COURTESY MAKANI KAI AIR
This photo from Makani Kai Air's website shows the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft that the company flies.
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The Makani Kai Air crash that killed the state’s health director comes at a time when the small commuter carrier is seeking to renew a federal contract that paid it nearly $1.9 million in subsidies through the last two years to operate Kalaupapa service.
The Honolulu-based airline earlier this year submitted an application with two proposals to the U.S. Department of Transportation that would pay the airline nearly $1.6 million over two years or nearly $2.9 million over four years.
Others airlines that submitted bids for Kalaupapa service were Kona-based Mokulele Airlines, San Francisco-based Boutique Air and SeaPort Air based in Portland, Ore.
The essential air service contract provides subsidies to airlines to encourage them to service rural communities.
In its Oct. 30 application, Makani Kai President Richard Schuman wrote that the airline has "a reputation as a safe, reliable and accommodating air carrier."
On its website, the company says it has not had a tour or charter safety incident or accident since it began flying in 1988.
That changed Wednesday when one of the company’s Cessna Grand Caravans crashed about a mile off the north shore of Kalaupapa and killed state Health Director Loretta Fuddy. Eight other people survived.
Transportation Department spokesman Bill Mosley said the new contract will be awarded "as soon as possible."
Makani Kai, which took over the Kalaupapa service from Pacific Wings on Dec. 10, 2011, will see its contract end Dec. 31 unless it is renewed. Makani Kai is scheduled to receive $923,509 this year for providing daily service between Honolulu and Kalaupapa and between Kanunakakai and Kalaupapa. It received $937,772 in 2012.
