Congressman Faleomavaega received a letter today from Mr. Mark Dunkerley, President and Chief Operating Officer of Hawaiian Airlines, outlining several reasons for significant fare hikes for flights between Pago Pago and Honolulu.  The reply was in response to a letter the Congressman sent to Mr. Dunkerley requesting and explanation for the drastic price hikes for commercial tickets, despite not raising fares for other routes. 

            “The principal reason given for the increased fares is that the route has been unprofitable for Hawaiian Airlines, which had been operating with rising costs over the past eight years.  Despite this, Hawaiian had left prices for routes between American Samoa and Honolulu heretofore unchanged, while steadily increasing fares for other routes including those between the U.S. mainland and Honolulu” Congressman Faleomavaega said.

            “In addition, Mr. Dunkerley contends that operating costs between American Samoa and Honolulu are substantially higher than they are between Honolulu and the U.S. Mainland.  Mr. Dunkerley says that this is mostly due to the fact that technical problems, when they arise, are considerably more logistically difficult to remedy”.

             “Mr. Dunkerley described a particularly costly incident where technical problems arose with aircraft in American Samoa, requiring that the airlines lease a ferry to transport a replacement plane engine.  Mr. Dunkerley said that the operation was extremely expensive and left a major aircraft unavailable for other flight segments for over two weeks.  He also said that major repairs in Honolulu or the U.S. mainland are much more expeditious because spare parts are readily available and that these types of unforeseen incidents have left Hawaiian Airlines with little option but to compensate for their operating losses by increasing fares for routes that lack aircraft repair infrastructure.” 

            “While I understand Hawaiian Airlines operates in Pago Pago with less technical support available on site, I have difficulty believing that the situation in Papeete is much better.  Hawaiian did not change fares for those segments, only those for my constituents.  I also learned from LBJ Tropical Medical Center that prices for transporting patients on stretchers have nearly tripled.  All of this seems excessive and inexcusable to me.  I hope to continue my dialogue with Hawaiian Airlines and I am hopeful that the FAA may also be able to shed more light on this issue” the Congressman concluded.