The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association continues to work\nalongside the Save Dillingham Airfield group to keep open the Oahu airport that\noffers visitors glider rides, skydiving, and flying lessons\u2014with activity that\nsupports 130 jobs and injects $12 million into the struggling state economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A newspaper poll that sampled public opinion on Hawaii\u2019s\neconomic prospects stressed the importance of travel to the state\u2019s recovery\nfrom the \u201cApril trough\u201d that slammed tourism and business transportation and\ntriggered major statewide job losses as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.\n\u201cThe University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization last month forecast\nthat it will take more than three years \u2014 until after 2023 \u2014 for the state\neconomy to regain the level it was at last year or even the year before,\u201d the\nStar Advertiser reported on October 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Against that tenuous but hopeful backdrop, it would be a \u201ctravesty\u201d if the Hawaii Department of Transportation acted on its intention to end its lease of Dillingham Airfield (Kawaihapai Airport) from the U.S. Army four years early, ending its run as a general aviation airport and shutting down 11 businesses that inject $12 million into the local economy, said state Sen. Gil Riviere (D-District 23) in a recent broadcast interview. \u201cThere\u2019s just so much potential. We\u2019ve got to save it,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aviation sector has rallied around the airport since the state revealed plans to seek an early end to its airport lease that would otherwise expire in 2025. But now the harsh impact of the pandemic on Hawaii has\nraised Dillingham Airfield\u2019s profile far beyond the airport boundary as the\ncommunity at large pins its optimism for recovery on drawing visitors back to\nHawaii\u2019s renowned attractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, time to save Dillingham Airfield\u2014known to backers\nas \u201cNorthern Oahu\u2019s Gateway to the Sky\u201d\u2014is growing short. The scheduled closing\ndate is June 30, 2021; the Save Dillingham Airfield support group recently\nwarned that state officials plan to take preliminary steps toward the shutdown\nin January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riviere believes that the closure plan undervalues the airport\u2019s contribution to the community\u2019s well-being and its starring role in Hawaii tourism. \u201cThis is the number one drop zone in the world. More people\njump out of airplanes at Dillingham than any place else in the world, so it\u2019s a\ntravesty,\u201d Riviere said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Melissa McCaffrey, AOPA Western Pacific regional manager, said the next eight to 12 weeks will be critical for airport advocacy. \u201cFor more than nine months now, AOPA and the Save Dillingham\nAirfield group have tried to provide solutions to the Hawaii Department of\nTransportation, all of which include preserving the airfield as a joint\ncivilian-military-use facility. Unfortunately, Hawaii DOT has continued to move\nforward with their plans to prematurely exit out of their FAA Airport Improvement\nProgram obligations and the lease with the U.S. Army, inevitably killing off\nthe businesses and jobs at the now thriving airfield,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCaffrey urged aviation supporters \u201cto be geared up and\nready to assist\u201d on several possible fronts perhaps including submitting\ntestimony to support a legislative strategy, contacting elected officials to\nadvocate for the airport, and joining the airport-support group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riviere, in his news interview, added that despite the short\ntimeline, he remained upbeat about the airport\u2019s chances to survive. He said\nthree management companies have been identified that could take over airport\nadministration from the Department of Transportation, which runs Hawaii\u2019s\npublic airports, if the state wants to opt out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both the FAA and the military would have to sign off on any\nclosure arrangements which would require an ambitious project to restore the\nproperty to its original condition, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association continues to work alongside the Save Dillingham Airfield group to keep open the Oahu airport that offers visitors glider rides, skydiving, and flying lessons\u2014with activity that supports 130 jobs and injects $12 million into the struggling state economy. A newspaper poll that sampled public opinion on Hawaii\u2019s economic prospects […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hawaii"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16754"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16755,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16754\/revisions\/16755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}