Hawai‘i offers to pay air controller salaries to avoid flight cuts at state airports
The Hawai‘i State Department of Transportation is offering to pay salaries for all air traffic controllers and security screeners assigned to Hawai‘i airports to avoid the flight cuts imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration across 40 major U.S. airports, including Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.
Ed Sniffen, director of the state Department of Transportation, is awaiting a response to a letter he sent to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy on Nov. 6, asking for a full waiver for all Hawai‘i airports from the FAA’s 10% reduction in scheduled air traffic due to staffing shortages among unpaid air traffic controllers during the ongoing federal government shutdown.
“Hawaii is uniquely vulnerable as the nation’s most isolated population center, with no viable alternative to air travel for commerce, health care, or national security needs,” Sniffen said.
Sniffen writes that the state of Hawai‘i “stands ready to immediately advance full salaries and benefits for all FAA air traffic controllers and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security screeners assigned to Hawai‘i facilities for the duration of the lapse in federal appropriations.”
“We are prepared to execute emergency agreements within 24 hours to keep every position fully staffed, ensuring zero safety or capacity compromises,” Sniffen stated.
In Sniffen’s letter, he outlines four areas where imposing these restrictions would inflict immediate and severe harm. Those include access to medical services (noting that residents routinely travel to the Mainland for specialized care unavailable in the islands — cancer treatment, organ transplants, neonatal intensive care and emergency surgeries); disruption of cargo movement and food security (Hawaiʻi imports 85% of its food); national defense and military family wellness (hosting more than 45,000 active-duty personnel and their families); and economic hardship (tourism and related industries account for over 20% of Hawaiʻi’s economy and employ 1 in 4 residents).
Sniffen said the state is working closely with Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation to monitor the shutdown situation.
“Granting this targeted waiver—conditioned on Hawai‘i’s direct funding of these essential personnel—would maintain full flight schedules, protect public safety, and prevent unnecessary damage to a state that contributes disproportionately to America’s strategic interests,” Sniffen stated.
Already, flight cancellations have begun in Hawaiʻi. On Thursday, Hawaiian Airlines announced it is cancelling four interisland flights for Friday, two of which are a round-trip from Honolulu to Kahului, flights 1066 and 1155. The other two cancellations for Friday were Honolulu-Kona flights.
So far, Hawaiian and Alaska airlines flights between Hawai‘i and the continental U.S., as well as international routes, are not impacted. Flights 1066 and 1155 also are still scheduled to run Saturday, the airlines said.
The Alaska Group, which now is the corporate leadership of Hawaiian Airlines after the merger, said: “As we assessed the FAA’s directive and our schedule, we worked to ensure smaller and remote communities that are reliant upon air travel are protected.”
But the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority sent a news release on Thursday acknowledging the 10% reduction in flights would impact travel to and from the Hawaiian Islands.
“In this interconnected world of air travel, a change in Boston could very well change an itinerary in Honolulu,” the authority said. “So, we encourage everyone traveling to or from the U.S. to stay connected and prepared.”
Although federal workers have not been paid since Oct. 1, Sniffen said that staffing levels for the 2,369 federal employees that support the airports in Hawaiʻi — 1,500 Transportation Security Administration workers, 300 U.S. Customs and Border Protection workers, 310 U.S. Department of Agriculture workers, and 259 workers for the Federal Aviation Administration and Air Traffic Control — have remained normal.
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