“At this point, a lot of people just don't trust their word,” Moloka’i breast cancer patient Andrea Dudoit said of Mokulele Airlines, currently the only carrier serving the island.
She has missed treatments on Oʻahu because of flight delays.
“There is no other choice,” Dudoit continued. “And it's sad because if we get delayed or canceled, we just not going to make our appointment. And that's putting lives at risk. It's just not fair. I don't think it's right.”
Some have suggested bringing specialists to Molokaʻi and Lāna'i instead of patients flying out. But they're also impacted by unreliable flights.
Randi Taniguchi-Fu is the medical director at Moloka’i General Hospital and Outpatient Clinic. She said specialists sacrifice a day at their own practices to come to the island. But when flights get delayed, they have to cancel the Moloka’i clinic too.
“Not only is it not profitable for them, it's extremely frustrating,” she said. “And in fact, a lot of people said, ‘You know what, we can't physically come there anymore. The flights are so unreliable that we can't afford to lose out on that clinic day.’ So there's pulmonologists that used to come here that no longer come here because of the flight issues.”
Taniguchi-Fu said that as a primary care doctor, she does her best to fill in the gaps, but the transportation situation puts an extra strain on already-limited resources.
House Bill 2544, proposed by Rep. Mahina Poepoe of Maui Nui, would establish a two-year pilot program through the Department of Health for chartered flights for non-emergency medical patients on Moloka’i and Lāna’i.
“It would work similar to the way medical appointments off-island currently work where insurance providers or medical providers make the appointment and work with the patient to make a reservation,” Poepoe explained. “It's just that the service would be provided through the Department of Health, who would then contract an air carrier to provide a chartered flight.”
Poepoe said insurance providers have also voiced support for the bill and the stability it would bring to patients.
The bill has passed in the House and crossed over to the Senate for further consideration.
Current commercial flight operations
Mokulele Airlines Chief of Staff Keith Sisson said they have more planes on the way.
“We'll have three additional aircraft coming in the next two weeks,” he said. “So that's pretty exciting for us. And when we have those instances where we have those kind of long delays that drag out over a couple of days due to weather, we'll have the extra aircraft now to really accommodate those passengers.”
With even more aircraft expected later this year, Sisson thinks the charter flight bill won’t be necessary.
“We think that we have the solutions in place,” Sisson said. “And perhaps this is trying to solve a problem that has historically happened that may not be happening right now, present day.”
Residents say they're grateful Mokulele executives have been able to help them on an individual basis when they reached out with urgent issues. But ultimately, they say it’s not a solution to the unreliability challenges.
‘Ohana by Hawaiian Airlines stopped serving Moloka’i and Lāna’i in 2021. With an upcoming merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian, some residents hoped Alaska would bring in some competition.
But airline executives say there are currently no plans to purchase smaller aircraft needed to maneuver those islands’ shorter runways.
Nonprofit flight options
Another flight option is available to Hawaiʻi residents struggling to get to medical appointments. Hawaii Wing leader and volunteer Ace Ellinwood said Angel Flight West is a nonprofit providing flights for medical needs as part of a national network.
“The pilots pay for everything as volunteers, and then the flights are free for the patients,” he explained.
Ellinwood said last year, seven Hawaiʻi pilots flew 189 missions. Of those, nearly 100 were for Moloka’i patients, and 16 were for Lāna’i. He said the current demand for flights is greater than pilots can accommodate.
“The majority of what we do is fly patients to medical appointments,” Ellinwood said. “We also can do other things like flying blood supplies, or flying doctors or nurses to places where they're need to go.”
He said they’ve also assisted people needing to relocate due to domestic violence, and flights for veterans.
Patients or medical providers can request a flight by calling Angel Flight’s California office or visiting their website. If a reservation can’t be accommodated, the nonprofit works with local airlines to donate flights, a program Mokulele has participated in.
In the meantime, most Moloka’i and Lāna’i residents are left hoping their flight will get them there in time.
Read and listen to part one of this story, where HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol speaks with Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi residents who say unreliable flights hinder access to critical health care.
