Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday announced a new program, Maui Care Flights, to provide thousands of round-trip flights for Maui families affected by the Aug. 8 wildfires.
Alaska Airlines — partnering with the state, Marriott International and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement — are offering Maui families over 3,000 round-trip flights to the mainland beginning July through December 2025.
“Residents have navigated tragedy and recovery, heartbreak, new schools, communities have relocated, people have been moved about and it’s been really, really difficult,” Green said. “If we can provide some positives in people’s lives, it helps them heal.”
The first free charter flight carrying 180 guests departs Maui on July 11 to Anaheim, Calif., and returns on July 14.
In collaboration with
Disneyland Resort, guests also will receive a complimentary package including a two-day Disneyland Park Hopper pass, a three-night Marriott stay and all necessary transportation.
In November, Alaska Airlines — through an Alaska’s Gift of Travel program, alongside the Maui Care Flights program that began in September last year — gave three affected Maui residents with an all-inclusive trip to Disneyland Resort and a stay at the Westin Anaheim hotel.
Rose Ann Recites, 34, who lost her Lahaina residence to the fires, was one of the recipients.
Recites, her husband, their 5-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter left Maui for Anaheim on Nov. 30 and returned on Dec. 4 after a free trip to Disneyland.
“I was really stoked when I got the call, I thought it was a scam,” Recites told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I couldn’t believe it.”
She said it was her children’s first time at Disneyland and it was a “healing and magical experience for us.”
“I know they’re still sad from what happened but it was a good way to get their minds off of things for a little bit, even if it’s temporary,” Recites said.
She was excited to hear that more Maui families will benefit the same way she and her family did.
While only the first charter flight will experience the all-inclusive Disneyland trip, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said that the free round-trip tickets still will be provided until the end of 2025.
“On top of that, we don’t think that’s enough because there’s so many families with children that are impacted and we said, well, let’s continue it,” Minicucci said.
From August through December 2025, Alaska Airlines will donate 180 round-trip tickets each month, equivalent to one plane per month, allowing families to travel anywhere the airline serves, including the mainland, Mexico and Canada.
Green said Minicucci contacted his office to find ways of supporting wildfire victims as the one-year mark approached.
Minicucci said the goal was to help Maui families “go to visit family, to have a vacation, whatever they need, to experience something and to give them some mental break from what they’ve been through.”
“When we thought about this, the dollars weren’t my top priority. I really didn’t care what it was gonna cost for us,” Minicucci said.
Maui families can begin applying for the program on Wednesday at helpingmaui.org.
“This gift of travel will give our survivors, who have gone through so much, a chance to reconnect with loved ones, see new places and create new memories together,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement. “The generosity of Alaska Airlines and partners is a wonderful example of the compassion that our residents need as they continue to recover from the devastation of the wildfires.”
Dustin Kaleiopu — CNHA Kakoʻo Maui Resource
Center lead and multigenerational Lahaina resident — said that the verification process for applicants will be based on direct-impact individuals that can be verified through their Federal Emergency Management Agency or Red Cross
numbers.
“Priority is going to be given to, of course, families with young children or
kupuna looking to travel with their whole family together at one time,” Kaleiopu said.
Green said that the program aligns with the success of moving wildfire victims from hotels to long-term accommodations.
Last week, FEMA approved the state’s request to extend the temporary emergency noncongregate sheltering program by 30 days, now ending on June 10. However, Green stated on Wednesday that he anticipates another extension until the end of June.
“I would expect by the time the first July trip to Disney occurs, we’re hopeful that all families — with the exception of a few people who might have disabilities — will have moved into long-term stable housing,” Green said.
