The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association continues to work alongside the Save Dillingham Airfield group to keep the Hawaii airport open.
PHDH offers visitors glider rides, skydiving, and flying lessons, with activity that supports 130 jobs and injects $12 million into the struggling state economy, according to AOPA officials.
A newspaper poll that sampled public opinion on Hawaii’s economic prospects stressed the importance of travel to the state’s recovery from the “April trough” that slammed tourism and business transportation and triggered major statewide job losses as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
“The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization last month forecast that it will take more than three years — until after 2023 — for the state economy to regain the level it was at last year or even the year before,” the Star Advertiser newspaper reported on Oct. 20, 2020.
Against that tenuous but hopeful backdrop, it would be a “travesty” if the Hawaii Department of Transportation acted on its intention to end its lease of Dillingham Airfield from the U.S. Army four years early, ending its run as a general aviation airport and shutting down 11 businesses that inject $12 million into the local economy, said state Sen. Gil Riviere (D-District 23) in a recent broadcast interview.
“There’s just so much potential. We’ve got to save it,” he said.
The aviation sector has rallied around the airport since the state revealed plans to seek an early end to its airport lease that would otherwise expire in 2025.
However, time to save Dillingham Airfield — known to backers as “Northern Oahu’s Gateway to the Sky” — is growing short. The scheduled closing date is June 30, 2021. The Save Dillingham Airfield support group recently warned that state officials plan to take preliminary steps toward the shutdown beginning in January.
Riviere believes that the closure plan undervalues the airport’s contribution to the community’s well-being and its starring role in Hawaii tourism.
“This is the number one drop zone in the world. More people jump out of airplanes at Dillingham than any place else in the world, so it’s a travesty,” Riviere said.
Riviere added that despite the short timeline, he remained upbeat about the airport’s chances to survive. He said three management companies have been identified that could take over airport administration from the Department of Transportation, which runs Hawaii’s public airports, if the state wants to opt out.
Melissa McCaffrey, AOPA Western Pacific regional manager, said the next eight to 12 weeks will be critical for airport advocacy.
“For more than nine months now, AOPA and the Save Dillingham Airfield group have tried to provide solutions to the Hawaii Department of Transportation, all of which include preserving the airfield as a joint civilian-military-use facility. Unfortunately, Hawaii DOT has continued to move forward with their plans to prematurely exit out of their FAA Airport Improvement Program obligations and the lease with the U.S. Army, inevitably killing off the businesses and jobs at the now thriving airfield,” she said.
McCaffrey urged aviation supporters “to be geared up and ready to assist” on several possible fronts, including submitting testimony to support a legislative strategy, contacting elected officials to advocate for the airport, and joining the airport support group.
As a published aviation historian, my wife and I, visiting from Georgia, made our pilgrimage to Dillingham because of its history as the launch point of the few USAAF fighters to take to the air and take down attacking Japanese aircraft during the Pearl Harbor attack. It is an HISTORIC LANDMARK !!
I learned to fly in HI while stationed on Oahu (Army, 1974-75). Made many landings (some passable) at Dillingham. We did our acrobatic training in the Dillingham boxes. Great times.
Wow, that’s terrible news. I agree with everything said about saving Dillingham Field. I made numerous Skydives at the airport while stationed on the Island. The money spent at the airport and other local establishments is of course vital to everyone who owns own. Just as important is the history of the airport which dates back to and before WW II. I hope organizations like AOPA, USPA, and other like minded aviation organization can convince the state officials who want to end the lease and close the airport to find a alternative plan.
If any State in the Union owes Aviation, it is the State of Hawaii. The vast majority of Tourist entering Hawaii do so by air Transportation. I for one advanced my desire to become a Commercial Pilot while stationed in Hawaii at Hickam AFB in the 1956 to 1958 time frame. I received my Private license on Ohau. I was a part owner of a plane based at HNL, flying from a T hangar there. I have flown to and landed at every airport except Neihau. But, I did circle the Island. I when on to become an Airline Pilot and have flown many trips from LVG to PNL on DC-8’s carrying 250 passengers for Trans International Airlines, later named Transamerica Airlines. If it were not for all those “little airports” in the Hawaiian Island I would not have gained the experience necessary to peruse my desried carrier paths an Airline Pilot. Diversity in local airports is what it is all about. Please don’t take that away from of those who in the future to become Airline Pilots. You can’t regrow an airport in the limited space available on the Islands. This has the smell of back door political maneuvering.
Tom Hird
Western AirPark 06WN
Yelm, WA
Time to step up and support local businesses as they grow the economy. Keep the lease!
This sure smells like someone in the HDOT is getting paid off to turn this airfield into housing.