Posted on: Friday, May 31, 2002
State seeks departure fee from mainland travelers
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
State officials are planning to implement a $4.50 per person airport departure charge that could raise up to $18 million a year for airport improvements.
The new fee would apply to all Hawai'i departures for the Mainland; interisland and foreign flights would not be affected, Transportation Director Brian Minaai said yesterday. The fee could be in effect by early next year, airport officials said.
"I don't think this will stop anyone from traveling, but it will give them one more thing to be bitter about at a time when airline costs are already higher than they've ever been," said Bonnie Gutner, owner and manager of Travel Inc. in Kailua.
The fee would be similar to the "passenger facility charges" in place at more than 300 airports across the country. It is separate, however, from another fee that airlines were allowed to start charging after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to pay for additional luggage screeners, sky marshals and other security measures.
The Transportation Department is developing administrative rules for the program and plans to have public hearings on the charges this summer, Minaai said. The Federal Aviation Administration must also approve specific uses for the money before the fees can be charged.
Many travelers pay such fees on other legs of their flights originating in Hawai'i. Federal regulations limit the departure charges to two legs of a journey and cap the charges at $7.50 per ticket, Gutner said.
For instance, a passenger leaving any Hawai'i airport for Los Angeles, Chicago and New York now pays departure fees in Los Angeles and Chicago. Under the new rules being developed by the Transportation Department, the fees could be assessed in Hawai'i and Los Angeles; Chicago then would not be allowed to charge the Hawai'i passenger.
The new fees are being developed at a time when the department's Airports Division has been hard hit by additional security expenses after the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks.
"This is a sorely needed source of revenue that can be used to offset our security costs," Minaai said.
A $3 per airport departure fee was approved by Congress in 1990. In 2000, the program was amended to cap the fees at $4.50 at the nation's largest airports.
Money from the passenger facility charges must be used to pay for approved airport improvements or to pay off bonds associated with airport debt and financing.
In the past, Hawai'i has been reluctant to institute the charge because it would affect residents who frequently fly interisland routes. Two years ago, however, state officials lobbied for and received a ruling that would exempt interisland flights from the departure fee, Minaai said.
"Up till then, everybody was against it, but now everyone is in favor," Minaai said.
Across the nation, the charges allowed airports to collect nearly $650 million in the first four months of this year, the FAA said. Since the program's start, total collections have amounted to more than $34 billion.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
