Mokulele Airlines was awarded the federal subsidy to fly to Lānaʻi for the next two years. Essential Air Service is a program that provides funding to serve qualifying rural communities across the country.
Under the EAS contract, Mokulele will provide Lānaʻi with 21 weekly round-trip flights to Kahului and 42 round trips to Honolulu on nine-seat Cessna Caravan aircraft.
The airline will receive around $4 million annually through Aug. 31, 2026.
Honolulu-based Pacific Air Charters also submitted a proposal for the EAS route, an effort supported by many in the Lānaʻi community. However, the U.S. Department of Transportation ruled the company does not currently hold certain certifications from the DOT and FAA to fulfill the EAS requirements.
Despite many community comments expressing concern about Mokulele’s lack of reliability, both Mayor Richard Bissen and Sen. Lynn DeCoite submitted letters supporting the airline.
The USDOT is requiring Mokulele to provide monthly reporting on the timeliness of its flights.
The department states it has “heard from many users of EAS, through formal comments, telephone conversations, and emails, that Mokulele often delays flights and 'reschedules' flights with little notice, negatively impacting Hawaiian residents that travel to Oʻahu for medical appointments and those connecting to other airlines at HNL and OGG.”
Every 30 days over the next two years, the airline must report to the DOT the percentage of flights that arrive on time, or how many minutes they are delayed. The DOT defines an “on time” flight as departing within 15 minutes of its scheduled time.
Lānaʻi and Moloka’i were determined as EAS airports in 1983 but have never had subsidized service.
Mokulele Airlines has been Lānaʻi’s primary carrier since 2021. In December, the company submitted a letter to the DOT to terminate its Lānaʻi operation.
“Rising costs and stagnant market demand have caused unsubsidized air service on the island to remain perpetually unprofitable,” the company wrote.
The airline told HPR it had no intention of halting service but needed a subsidy to continue the Lānaʻi routes.
In response to Mokulele’s notice of termination, the U.S. DOT issued a request for proposals for subsidized — or unsubsidized — service to Lānaʻi.
The USDOT announced Mokulele was awarded the contract on Aug. 16.
