Aloha found online at sharealohahawaii.org

State Representative Ryan Yamane, Chair of the House Tourism and Culture Committee, thanked and congratulated Valerie Sugawa, a veteran of Aloha Airlines, for taking the initiative to create a website that collects donations and offers encouragement for the employees of Aloha Airlines who lost their jobs.

"I like Aloha helping Aloha." said Rep. Yamane. "Seeing former employees take the initiative to give back to their friends and colleagues really shows me the true spirit of Hawaii. They are using their own time to help those impacted and that alone proves the real meaning of Aloha."

Photo: Valerie Sugawa gives free haircuts to former Aloha Airlines' employees at Wellspring Covenant Church in Halawa.

Sugawa, 38 of Moanalua Valley, left the airlines last year to take care of her two children, but she still considers herself part of the Aloha ohana. Eager to do something to help the employees recently laid off after the swift shut-down of Aloha Airlines passenger service, Sugawa and her husband decided to build ShareAloha, a website where people can make donations, and former Aloha employees can make specific requests for items like diapers, formula, new or gently used business attire, canned goods, non-perishable foods, gift cards for gas, or groceries.

A mother of two, ages five and three, with another due in less than a month, recently asked for baby diapers, wipes, baby shampoo, baby ointment and lotion. Once a request comes in via email, Sugawa posts it on the website for island residents to see what is needed.

So far, the website has helped 14 employees with specific requests as of April 2, two days after the official shut down of the passenger service. Sugawa hopes to increase the number of people the website can assist once more employees hear about this alternative avenue for aid.

"With the word spreading, we are having more people writing in for aid," said Sugawa. "The need is great because they are getting turned away from different organizations."

The website also has a message board for concerned citizens wanting to help or offer support by leaving messages, miscellaneous information, or job opportunities for the Aloha community to view.

Donations and support from everyone has been incredible, says Sugawa. Each time they receive a new item, whether it be a gift card, canned goods or monetary donations, she and her husband are overwhelmed with joy at the kindness of Hawaii's people.

The website is co-sponsored by the Wellspring Covenant Church in Halawa, and every Tuesday workers of Aloha Airlines are invited to "Haircut Tuesday" at the church to get free haircuts, enjoy coffee, pastries, or lunch, and receive assistance with resume writing.

If you would like to help or need assistance and don't have access to a computer or internet, please call the Wellspring Covenant Church at 484-8880.

House Finance Passes Aloha Airlines Keiki Care Bill

The House Finance Committee passed SB69, proposed HD3 with technical amendments. This bill expands the Keiki Care program to include children of former Aloha Airlines employees, as noted in the post below. The Advertiser story is here. The SB story is here. The bill now goes to the House floor for a final reading.

Expanding Keiki Care for Aloha Airlines

House and Senate members held a press conference today to announce a proposal that would expand the Keiki Care health insurance pilot program for the children of former Aloha Airlines employees. Rep. Maile Shimabukuro (at podium) estimated that around 800 children would participate in the program, at a cost of about $23,000 per month.

The bill is SB69, SD2, HD3 (proposed). It comes up for hearing tomorrow in the Finance committee. The bill would allow the children of former Aloha Airlines employees, from the age of 31-days to 18 years, to receive health insurance coverage at no cost. The cost would be shared by the Department of Human Services and HMSA. The free coverage would be in effect from the date of approval to December 31, 2008, or until the parent gets a new job and is covered under a pre-paid health plan.

Lawmakers to honor Aloha employees

Aloha Airlines and its employees will be honored tomorrow during a special reception in the Capitol Rotunda at 4 p.m. Lawmakers will recognize the airline's 61 years of service to the islands.

"I think the people of Hawaii want a chance to show their appreciation and fondest farewell to the workers of Aloha Airlines," added Rep. Joe Bertram. "I don't think a letter to the newspaper editor can truly express our gratitude to Aloha Airlines for the 61 years of service they provided the people of Hawaii."

Aloha was the tenth largest employer statewide and in the wake of one of the worst mass layoffs in Hawaii, over 1,900 employees lost their jobs.

State Representatives Karen Awana, Joe Bertram and John Mizuno joined together to bring employees and family members together to show Hawaii's deepest appreciation and fondest aloha for their dedication to excellent service. Guests will be provided with ono refreshments and enjoyable entertainment.

"I think the Capitol provides us with a venue for the people of Hawaii to truly express their 'mahalo and aloha' to a part of our 'ohana, to a part of history, and to a beloved company," said Rep. John Mizuno.

Speaker Emeritus Souki Testifies on Rate Regulation Bill

It was a scramble and a long shot, but House leaders are still looking at ways to help the interisland airline industry in Hawaii, and late yesterday resurrected a bill that proposes rate regulation. HB2250, Relating to Transportation, establishes a "statutory scheme for the state regulation of interisland air carriers, to the extent permissible under the Constitution and laws of the United States."

The bill was introduced this session by Rep. Bob Herkes. It was referred to the committees on Transportation and Finance. It passed the Transportation committee, chaired by Rep. Joe Souki, passed second reading, but did not get a hearing in Finance, until yesterday at around 3:30 p.m. The push for regulation, of course, has surfaced due to the Aloha Airlines bankruptcy, and the discussion at the informational briefing held on Wednesday. Chair Souki believes that if regulation had been in place, Aloha would still be flying.

So, at the end of the floor session, Rep. Marilyn Lee, Vice Chair of Finance, requested a waiver of the 48-hour notice requirement to hear HB2250, which was granted. There were two testifiers:

Speaker Emeritus Souki started with a laugh, "This is the first time I'm sitting here – now I know what it feels like to be facing the chair and the members – not knowing what my fate is going to be…"

He went on to explain that this bill is not new – it was first passed in 1993, but it needs enabling legislation by the Congress, and that was never acted upon.

He believes that Congress should give Hawaii the authority to regulate interisland air carriers because we are unique. We don't have sufficient highways that connect us to the other counties. As an island state, we need interisland transportation to survive.

"If we had this bill in place, maybe this (meaning Aloha) would not have happened. If we had this in place, we would have a fairer distribution of flights. Areas of the state would be serviced more equally. We need to consider passing this bill so that we won't be in this kind of predicament again, and not allow another predatory airline in the future. The consumer may benefit in the short term from deregulation because of the low fares, but not in the long term. Here in Hawaii, we need regulations."

Wayne Wakeman, a former pilot for Aloha Airlines also testified. Wakeman serves as a spokesman for all of Aloha's unions. Here are some of his comments:

"Ironically, I got the call from Rep. Caldwell's office to come testify on this bill as I was cleaning out my locker at Aloha. I started 30 years ago in customer service at United. At the time, Pan Am was the major airline. And then we had deregulation, and pretty soon we had other airlines coming into Hawaii, like Braniff. It was good for competition.

But for interisland carriers, regulation may be good. It will, believe it or not, stimulate competition. When fares are regulated, people will start to choose an airline based on service, not on price.

Mesa has other routes on the mainland where they can charge high prices. They can charge a low fare here because they have other mainland routes where they can charge high fares and make up for it.

Something needs to be done. Aloha is history. This will help Hawaiian and Mesa. Ironically, it will help Mesa.

Investors should not be afraid to lose money because of a fare war.

Aloha never indicated that they were going to shutdown. When they filed for bankruptcy, we thought that they needed to protect their assets, but they never came to us for concessions. It was a total surprise.

You have to realize that the difference between Aloha and Hawaiian is that Aloha is a privately owned company and Hawaiian is a public company. A private company can't just go to an investor and ask them for another $10 million to cover payroll. Whereas, if you're a public company, you can sell more stocks, and yes, the stock price may come down, but you can make it up."

There was some discussion based on the premise that Congress has already provided an exemption for Alaska, but the House has not been able to confirm that. The measure was passed unanimously with an amendment to strike the repeal date of 6/30/2015, and with Reps Belatti, Rhoads and Meyer voting with reservations.

Facing the Impacts of the Aloha Airlines Bankruptcy

House committees on Transportation (Chair: Rep. Joe Souki), Tourism & Culture (Chair: Rep. Ryan Yamane) and Labor & Public Employment (Rep. Alex Sonson) will hold a joint informational briefing on the Aloha Airlines Bankruptcy situation. The purpose of the briefing is to gather pertinent information on the bankruptcy, its impact on the state, and transitional, short-term and long-term plans to address:

Impact on inter-island travel and service to consumers
Impact on local, national and international tourism
Impact on employees, including unemployment benefits and workforce assistance

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, April 2, 2008
8:30 – 11:45 a.m.

WHERE: State Capitol Auditorium

WHO: The following have been invited to present information:

Transportation: Barry Fukunaga, Governor's Office; DOT Director Brennon Morioka and Deputy Director, Airports Division, Brian Sekiguchi; Blaine Miyasato, Vice President, Customer Service, Hawaiian Airlines.

Tourism: Rex Johnson, Hawaii Tourism Authority; Marsha Weinert, DBEDT Tourism Liaison; Robert Shore, Economist DBEDT, Murray Towill, Hawaii Hotel Association;

Labor: Darwin Ching, Director of Labor and Industrial Relations; Wayne Wakeman, ALPA (Airline Pilots)

Aloha Airlines Bills

Here are the bills related to assisting Aloha Airlines through its bankruptcy proceedings. As Speaker of the House Calvin Say told employees at the rally on Friday, we must wait until Monday, when the case goes before Judge King in bankruptcy court, before we know where things really stand. However, the legislature is poised to help and, thus far, is looking at these two bills:

HB2860, HD2, SD3. This bill exempts the general excise and use taxes on fuel sold from a foreign-trade zone to common carriers for use in interisland air transportation. It was introduced by Rep. Joe Souki, House Transportation Chair. It has passed the House and will be up for third reading in the Senate on Monday 3/31. It will then go to conference.

HB509, Proposed SD2. Relating to Transportation. This is a loan guarantee bill. It proposes to allows the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) to guarantee up to 90% of the principal balance of a loan made by a private lending institution to a Hawaii air carrier; provided that the aggregate amount of the State's liability shall not exceed $ . Repealed on 06/30/2018.

The bill was introduced last year by Rep. Joe Souki as a short form bill.

This is what it looked like as a House Draft 1: Prohibits a towing company from charging the owner of a vehicle targeted for towing if the owner of the vehicle appears on the scene before the vehicle has been moved by the tow truck.

In its latest incarnation as a Senate Draft 1, it morphed into a bill to authorize the Department of Transporation to collect a $1 per day charge on rental cars at state airports as a customer facility charge.

The bill, as the proposed Senate Draft 2, is up for public hearing on April 1st at 10:00 a.m. in Room 211.