HONOLULU (KHON2) — Other than a damaged cargo building in Lihue and a water leak at a checkpoint at Honolulu International Airport, the state Transportation Department said Hawaii’s five airports were unscathed by the storm.
However, the airlines are still scrambling to recover from the sudden ground stop at Honolulu’s Airport that left thousands of travelers in limbo overnight.
“We were on the plane for probably 45 minutes, and they said over the speaker, everybody has to exit the plane. There is no flights leaving Oahu. So we got out, and then we didn’t know where our luggage was,” said Kathy MacDonald, who was trying to get home to California after a week in the islands.
Kathy MacDonald and her friend, Elizabeth Kasz, had to spend the night at a hotel after missing their connecting flight to Sacramento yesterday.
According to Maui’s Mayor Richard Bissen, about 15 flights were diverted to Maui.
“Initially there were between two and three thousand people stranded because the flights could land but they couldn’t leave. They diverted 15 flights to Maui but the crews timed out. In other words they couldn’t fly anymore. So they were trying to get crews to come to Maui to fly these folks out a couple thousand made it out but about 1000 were left and I was told about 700 stayed overnight so that kind of acted as a shelter,” Bissen said.
The State Department of Transportation said 104 flights were either diverted or cancelled yesterday.
“Because of that, we had about 2,700 passengers stuck in different airports that were not their destination. We accommodated them as much as possible,” said Ed Sniffen, DOT director.
Hawaiian Airlines said the ground stop impacted dozens of their flights, including 22 diversions. Alaska Airlines had five transpacific flights diverted, including one that had to return back to Seattle.
We checked in with Nathan Jeffrey, who was on that flight, and was in line last night to rebook another flight home. Today, he was in Los Angeles.
“They rescheduled us or rerouted us to LAX today, and then we’ll fly out at five o’clock, California time,” said Jeffrey, who was waiting at the airport.
Aviation expert Peter Forman said it’s the FAA’s decision to call for a ground stop, but is a sensible response to severe weather.
“A ground stop is keeping airplanes from taking off and heading to an airport that can’t receive them, or at least can’t receive them quickly,” Forman said. “It a makes a whole lot more sense. You’re not burning fuel, you’re not congesting the airspace, and it’s just a better deal all around.”
While flights are leaving today, the impact of this storm is likely to be felt for at least another day. So the best advice is to check with your airline before heading to the airport.