ISLAND VOICES
Is Hawai'i air travel 'essential service'?

By Kevin Hardin

Kevin Harding is a DC10 captain for Hawaiian Airlines

Of course the general public is against the merger of Hawaiian and Aloha airlines.

The public doesn't care whether an airline is profitable. All the public wants to see is low airfares and safe, reliable service. If the public can keep two carriers competing to death with huge corporate losses and the employees of those airlines subsidizing the cheap interisland fares with substandard wages ... what a deal!

The Senate wants to stir up public opposition by feeding on the emotion that air transportation is an essential right to all citizens of Hawai'i. Since there is no highway system between islands, does this make air transportation an essential service like roads, electricity or TheBus? Should air transportation be a state-run or state-regulated industry?

Hawaiian Electric is a regulated private company supplying the essential service of electrical power. The state regulates this industry, and HECO is allowed to make a profit, ensuring the viability of consistent service. HECO submits its cost of doing business here and, if it is justifiable, it is approved by the state.

I bet HECO employees make industry standard wages and benefits comparable or better than their Mainland counterparts.

If air travel is such an "essential public service" that the senators feel such a need to protect the public by interfering with corporate decisions, then I suggest they look at the cost and benefits of re-regulating interisland routes and profits on a state-only basis. If the state were to regulate the interisland airline industry like the electric industry, then it must allow airline employees to make industry-standard wages and allow corporations to make a consistent reasonable profit to ensure the ability to provide this "essential transportation service."

I'm sure the airline corporate offices would jump at the chance of actually making a profit. And the cost of regulation? Higher airfares than those that would result from a merger.

Yes, there will be a monopoly if the merger goes through. Greg Brenneman is totally aware that if other carriers see a huge profit being made here, an established Mainland carrier or new upstart will enter the market and compete.

It's no business secret that to prevent this from happening, he must keep the fares at such a small profit margin that it is not feasible for a competitor to enter the market.