Hawaiian regional airline Mokulele Airlines has grounded much of its fleet over the weekend of August 17-18, 2024, disrupting air links between several islands of the Pacific Ocean archipelago.
The grounding, the effects of which are still being felt three days later, was a precautionary measure after the airline identified potential discrepancies in documentation related to the servicing of its aircraft landing gear.
Services linking Honolulu, Kahului, Kapalua, Hana, Kona, Waimea, Moloka’i, Kalaupapa and Lāna’i have been affected by the interruption of service. At the islands of Lāna’i (LNY) and Molokai (MKK), Mokulele Airlines is the only carrier providing scheduled passenger services.
Mokulele Airlines is a subsidiary of the Southern Airways group (which also includes the Surf Air brand) and operates inter-island commuter and regional services with a fleet of nine-seater Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX and 28-seater Saab 340 turboprop aircraft.
Although a relatively small operation, the grounding of Mokulele Airlines has left many passengers stranded and impacted the ability of residents of several small communities to access basic services, such as medical care. The airline has stated that it will give priority to those traveling for medical reasons as it struggles to normalize its service.
As an emergency measure, Mokulele Airlines has also requested help from other air operators in Hawaii, including cargo airline Transair, which operates B737-200C freighters.
Mokulele Airlines said it expects operations to be back to normal by August 21, 2024.