HONOLULU (Island News) — With a local airline grounded this week, the impact is being felt in many walks of life on the islands including the sports world.
Molokai teams were nearly sidelined before even leaving for the TransPacific Volleyball Championships on Oahu. The event’s taking place at several locations including the Hawaii Convention Center.
Youth players, along with coaches and family members had to resort to alternative travel options.
Continuing to undergo maintenance inspections, Mokulele Airline fees were reportedly refunded to the teams.
Louis Saint-Cyr, COO and President of Hawaii Operations, Mokulele released a statement this week, including:
“Southern Airways and Mokulele Airlines took voluntary and precautionary measures to ensure the health of its fleet which resulted in the cancellation of multiple flights in Hawaii and the mainland.”
With numerous teams competing from vast distances this weekend, few teams faced a more challenging scramble than Molokai.
A pair of teams from Molokai had to resort to using multiple boats on short notice.
Ed Chun, Director of the TransPacific Championships stated, “They were resourceful enough to ask everyone in the community for a boat — they had a long traveling journey on a boat, across the channel to get to here.”
“We’re able to see how important it is to our youth of Hawaii, the extent they’re willing to go to be a part of something like this, it’s so much impact to their life”, added Chun.
It wound up putting Molokai’s teams a few thousand dollars over budget. It’s been a common problem in the past four to five years.
Island News spoke with team members and coaches about the trip:
Lehua Rawlins-Calairo with Molokai’s Na Pua O Hina volleyball team said, “The challenges for us were the channel is kind of a scary place for kids, the grounding for Mokulele – that’s when the channel has to come in clutch for us, it has to be smooth.”
William Dudoit, Molokai’s Na Pua O Hina coach said, “It was the first time with total (travel) cancellations in three decades, in the past we had options, but in this situation no options, other than boat.”
What message do you want to share with the state of Hawaii in light of what’s happened this week with your team?
“Seriously look into giving us more options in airlines”, stated Dudoit.
The trip by plane takes about 40 minutes, and by boat takes three hours.
Potential solutions considered for Mokulele have included adding a new airline or extending the runway to accommodate larger aircraft.
The Dept. of Transportation plans to pursue more funding during the 2025 legislative session, to provide backup options.
Mokulele is reportedly aiming to be back at full service Sunday.
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