The Hawai\u00ca\u00bbi Department of Transportation (HDOT) has\nwithdrawn its request to terminate the lease for Dillingham Airfield (also\nknown as Kawaihapai) as discussions with the U.S. Army and airfield tenants\nprogresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a result of the combined efforts of our staff, area\nlegislators, the Army, and the tenants operating at Dillingham, HDOT is\nconfident that the concerns prompting the transfer of the airfield back to the\nU.S. Army can be resolved,\u201d said Hawai\u00ca\u00bbi Department of Transportation Director\nJade Butay. \u201cWe appreciate the collaborative spirit demonstrated by the\nstakeholders at Dillingham that has brought us to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Members from the HDOT, U.S. Army, Congress, Executive\nOffice, Legislature, Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association (AOPA), tenants and\ncommunity members have been meeting every few weeks for the past nine months as\na collaborative effort to help save the airfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am so grateful for the effort of the stakeholders that came\ntogether to keep the airfield open for general aviation here in Waialua. Even\nwhen several members of our stakeholder group had opposing views, we all\ncontinued to work together to find solutions for incredibly complex problems\nsurrounding the airfield. This is a testament of what can be accomplished when\neveryone is willing to collaborate and I look forward to all we will accomplish\ngoing forward.\u201d said Representative Lauren Matsumoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Gil Riviere commented, \u201cIt is going to take some\ntime to repair the water system and create a new water users cooperative. This\ndecision to keep the airfield open is significant because it provides certainty\nfor the aviation community and allows the time needed to resolve various\nchallenges we have been working so hard on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to local legislators, the community has also\nbeen involved in this process. \u201cI am happy that during this process they were\nable to acknowledge our host Hawaiian culture associated with the airfield as\nwell as my ohana\u2019s iwi kupuna. I appreciate the collaborative effort giving\neach of us a seat at the table.\u201d said Thomas Shirai, a long-standing North\nShore Neighborhood Board Member and direct lineal descendant of Kawaihapai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ben Devine, founder and Director of Save Dillingham\nAirfield, shared that, \u201cThe removal of the lease termination allows the tenants\nto plan for the future by signing leases, investing in Hawaii, and enrolling\ntheir kids in school.\u201d Ben, who is also a Master Parachute Rigger on the\nairfield, goes on to say, \u201cEveryone at the airfield is committed to improving\nthis shining gem of aviation, now and for all future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Melissa McCaffrey of the AOPA said \u201cThis reprieve from early\ntermination of the lease at Kawaihapai Airfield gives the stakeholders an\nexcellent opportunity to find solutions to the existing problems, and more\nimportantly, opens the door to set the foundation for a vibrant and growing\ngeneral aviation community for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The end of the current short-term lease between the U.S.\nArmy and HDOT is set for July 5, 2024. Coordination continues on the\npossibility of a long-term lease for operation of Dillingham Airfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement from the Army, Col. Dan Misigoy, commander,\nU.S. Army Garrison Hawaii said, \u201cThe Army appreciates the collaborative efforts\nthat have been made to bring various stakeholders together to discuss\nDillingham Army Airfield. We will continue to work with the State in this\nprocess and look forward to the continued dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Hawai\u00ca\u00bbi Department of Transportation (HDOT) has withdrawn its request to terminate the lease for Dillingham Airfield (also known as Kawaihapai) as discussions with the U.S. Army and airfield tenants progresses. \u201cAs a result of the combined efforts of our staff, area legislators, the Army, and the tenants operating at Dillingham, HDOT is confident that […]<\/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-19488","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\/19488","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=19488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19489,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19488\/revisions\/19489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}