Hawaii airports will receive more than $144 million in new federal funding from the American Rescue Plan.
Funding from the plan, which was signed into law in March, will help support airports that have experienced severe economic disruption caused by COVID-19.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said, “Hawaii airport workers and the entire airline industry have taken a significant hit during this crisis. This new federal funding will support salaries for workers and help our airports recover.”
Oahu’s airports will get $74.4 million, Maui airports will receive $29.2 million, Hawaii island airports will get $24 million and $14.5 million will go to airports on Kauai. Molokai and Lanai will receive $1.3 million each for their airports.
Hawaiian flight turns back due to ill passenger
A Hawaiian Airlines pilot made the decision Monday afternoon to turn around a Las Vegas-bound flight so that a senior passenger could get medical attention in Honolulu.
Flight HA18 with nonstop service to Las Vegas departed Honolulu at 2:49 p.m. Monday and was a few hours into the flight when a pilot made the call to return the Airbus A330 aircraft to Honolulu, Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Alex Da Silva said.
The flight landed without incident in Honolulu at 8:15 p.m. The cabin was cleaned and sanitized after all 267 passengers and 10 crew members deplaned.
“The passenger was evaluated and cleared by airport medical personnel and given the option to re-book travel,” Da Silva said.
The flight departed back to Las Vegas at 10:40 p.m. Monday, he said.
“We apologize to our guests for the inconvenience,” Da Silva said. “Ultimately, we always err on the side of caution. If you have an elderly passenger who is coughing repeatedly, you want to make sure that gets taken care of before you cross the Pacific.”
Da Silva said returning flights isn’t something that the airline takes lightly, given the inconvenience to passengers and the high cost for the airline.
“Sometimes you just have to make the tough call,” he said.
