As American Samoa service resumes, some opt for refunds
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawaiian Airlines yesterday made its first flight to American Samoa in about two weeks. But almost a third of the passengers stranded here because of a runway shutdown in Pago Pago aren't using their return ticket and want a refund.
Hawaiian restarted service to American Samoa after the Federal Aviation Administration this week approved repairs to a disintegrating aggregate runway at the Pago Pago Airport that was damaging planes and threatening safety.
But reservations staff who were trying to seat displaced passengers reported that about 30 percent have declined using their ticket and said they either have applied or would apply for a refund, said Keoni Wagner, the airline's spokesman.
Wagner had no estimate for the number of refunds issued yesterday, but the bottom-line news was distressing to the airline which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy: The loss from refunds is "in six figures," he said.
He also said 64 of the 260 scheduled seats went empty, a no-show rate of 25 percent.
The passengers who did turn up for yesterday's 4:45 p.m. flight displayed a mix of emotions — relief at being enroute at last, and irritation at the inconvenience and confusion.
Louie Denolfo was told Wednesday that he was confirmed for yesterday's flight but arrived at the terminal to learn his name wasn't on the list. A phone call from Wagner cleared up what seemed to be a data-entry error, and Denolfo was back on track.
"They treat the passengers like cattle," he said.
Manoa Fuiava, a retired U.S. Army sergeant who now runs a Pago Pago grocery with his wife, came to Honolulu for his uncle's funeral and planned to stay a week. He has been here for a month, camping at a friend's house in Pearl City.
"I've got business at home," he said. "I have nobody to take care, only my wife and a 10-year-old son.
"And I have to feed the pigs — I have a pig farm, too," he added. "My wife, she was mad. I was supposed to help her with that."
Chico Siavii cradled his year-old daughter, Zoe, while he waited in line. The Sacramento resident is part of a group of about 200 relatives, most of them Mainlanders, bound for his grandmother's funeral in Pago Pago.
"They pushed the funeral back to the 18th," he said. "It was supposed to be the 4th."
Some of his family flew in the preceding days to Western Samoa, connecting from Apia to Pago Pago. They boarded Polynesian Airlines, which has had only a handful of open seats to accommodate stranded Hawaiian Airlines passengers, said Jim Dehn, Polynesian's U.S. regional manager.
"We're running an extra section on Saturday," Dehn said. "It looks to be a pretty full flight.
"Our flights were full before Hawaiian started this," he added, and then quipped: "Why couldn't this have happened in September or October, when we're slow? It happened at the wrong time."
Samoa Air Vacations has planned a charter series to help with the shuttle, but Wagner said the cancellations may mean there are fewer people needing flights than expected. Some of those seeking refunds may be vacationers who simply changed their plans, he said.
However, a group of 17 Kaimuki Christian Church members didn't want to cancel, lest they disappoint 500 Samoan children counting on the camp they were hosting. Luckily, they were able to delay the camp for a week, said member Pam Newell, because attempts to find alternative transport failed.
"We tried to charter a plane — that wasn't happening," she said. "Air New Zealand could have taken us for $2,500, via Auckland, and that really wasn't happening."
Wagner, standing alongside the check-in line, heard an earful of complaints and offered a measured response.
"This has been incredibly frustrating for the airlines, as well," he said.
