Ferry Talks Amid Flight Shortage

Molokai Ferry during its last operational days, 2016. Photo by Catherine Cluett Pactol.

The lack of reliable transportation to and from Molokai over the last several years has driven residents and Maui County officials to restart talks of bringing back the Molokai ferry. County officials and consultants made the trip over to Molokai for a preliminary feasibility study on the prospect of bringing back the ferry, with Maui County running it.

The ferry would operate “similar to how we have a bus system,” explained County Councilmember Keani Rawlins Fernandez at the Aug. 1 meeting at the Kualapu’u Rec Center.

Molokai residents offered opinions on the viability of bringing the ferry back, along with ideas for which wharf to run the ferry to on Maui and infrastructure upgrades. Many attendees recalled using the ferry to commute to work or travel to Maui for the day.

David Jung, who ran the Molokai ferry for 30 years until 2016 when it shut down, offered insight into the ferry business. Jung explained that eventually the ferry could no longer compete with airlines as a privately owned business.

“There’s no way for an unsubsidized, regulated [ferry] passenger service to compete with a subsidized, unregulated [airline] service,” he said.

During his 30-year tenure, Jung ran two round trips for the Molokai Princess per-day for $50 each way.

Molokai residents in attendance seemed eager for a return to this kind of operational normalcy for travel. More than 70 community members joined the meeting in-person, along with State Representative Mahina Poepoe and County Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who’s live stream of the meeting hosted another dozen attendees.

“If you consider the junction between the three islands, even with airline service, there isn’t too much service between Lahaina, Kaunakakai and Lanai. The airports are spread away,” explained Molokai resident Gordon Albino. “Having a ferry in this area would alleviate the need for aircraft in this particular area.”

Residents likewise voiced feedback on how a ferry could best serve Molokai’s needs.

“We need to prioritize our local essential travel,” said Molokai resident Zhan Lindo at the meeting. “This will serve no good to us if it’s filled with non-essential travelers.”

Maui County representatives explained that this is only the first step in the process of potentially bringing the ferry back. Feedback from the Molokai meeting, along with meetings on Maui and Lanai, will be turned into a draft proposal. The draft should be ready for residents to review later this fall.

Even if the Molokai ferry is to make a return, it won’t be in time for this year’s back-to-school shopping. Rawlins-Fernandez estimated that realistically it could take three to five years until a county-run ferry is operational.

In the meantime, residents will continue to rely on air travel and Mokulele Airlines. Recently, Molokai residents have been contending with an acute shortage of available flights both to and from Molokai. Flights have been very difficult to book in the month of August, delaying critical meetings, doctor’s appointments and more.

While inter-island transportation issues have plagued Molokai for years now, the recent irregularities have residents worried.

“It’s getting worse,” said Karen Holt, executive director of the Molokai Community Service Council. Holt explained that medical insurers like Kaiser Permanente have likewise had trouble booking flights for patients through the end of August.

Mokulele President of Hawaii Operations Louis Saint-Cyr explained that “the current flight schedule for August does currently have limited availability, and we’re working diligently to add more flights in August…We’re acutely aware that this situation is particularly challenging for the Molokai community.”

Mokulele is prioritizing medical travel, and residents should contact the call center at 808-495-4188 with medical travel needs, Saint-Cyr explained.

Residents have recently noticed third-party ticket sellers like Priceline and Kayak have been selling Mokulele flights – at a much higher cost. But according to Mokulele representatives, nothing has changed between Mokulele’s relationship with third-party ticket sellers. Rather, the current issues have been due to limited plane availability.