Posted on: Wednesday, October 2, 2002

EDITORIAL
Airlines' exemption must benefit public

Now that Aloha and Hawaiian airlines have their long-sought antitrust exemption, they must use it wisely.

We're satisfied that the application received sufficient scrutiny from Gov. Ben Cayetano and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Because the request was opposed by the Justice Department and a Maui commuter airline, we're confident that scrutiny will continue throughout the one-year life of the exemption.

In addition, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said a condition of the exemption will be that the airlines file monthly reports on average fares, passenger loads and yields.

At best, the exemption represents something of a trade-off for interisland passengers. By giving up some of the broad selection of flights and times now available on routes between Honolulu, Lihu'e, Kahului, Kona and Hilo, passengers should ensure the continued existence of two major competing, viable carriers here.

The exemption should allow the carriers to cut costs. We can all agree that it doesn't make economic sense for a Hawaiian plane and an Aloha plane, each less than half full, to take off at the same time for the same destination.

We all want the two airlines to survive and prosper. The exemption, however, should not amount to a license to print money. We would expect that one effect of this cost savings would be a reticence to increase fares on the same routes. And there is little to gain if the exemption simply creates capital for the expansion of service to the Mainland and beyond.

Thus oversight must ensure that the exemption serves not primarily the needs of the airlines, but — paramount to our long-term economic health — continuation of regular, comprehensive air service for goods and passengers among our Islands.