While the news is good (for now) for Hawaii’s Dillingham Airfield, the overall situation feels a little like a family feud at a once-a-decade family reunion.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) has revoked “its notice of termination” of its lease to operate Dillingham Airfield (HDH).
That’s good.
A Sept. 22, 2021, story on the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association website states, “AOPA rallied support for Dillingham Airfield (also known as Kawaihāpai Airfield) soon after the Hawaii DOT confirmed to AOPA in April 2020 that it would move to terminate its lease of the airport property from the U.S. Army ahead of that agreement’s 2024 end date. The state ordered tenants to vacate the airport long used for flight training, skydiving, sightseeing, and glider operations, putting businesses and tourism resources at risk.”
According to a Sept. 27, 2020, KHON story, there are 11 businesses at the airport employing 130 people that contribute $12 million a year to the local economy.
In early 2020, HDOT notified the Army it intended to terminate its lease on June 30, 2020. The termination date was then extended 12 months to June 30, 2021, and most recently to Dec. 31, 2021.
Access to Dillingham Airfield, which is officially owned by the U.S. Army, has come via multiple long-term leases (the current being a 25-year lease) with an expiration of 2024. Yet HDOT intended to terminate the lease early for multiple reasons.
The AOPA report links to a letter from HDOT’s Director of Transportation Jade T. Butay to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Col. Daniel Misigoy, Commander of the U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii.
This is where I get an uneasy feeling.
“As you know, DOT agreed to extend the termination date to Dec. 31, 2021, based on an expectation of seeing concrete and substantial progress toward resolving outstanding legal issues concerning the lease (i.e., the length of the lease and the obligation to operate and maintain the water system currently at the airfield).
“DOT notes that, at this time, there has been some progress on a Joint Use Agreement (JUA) and a long-term lease.”
HDOT expects “concrete and substantial progress” and acknowledges “some progress”. Hmmm.
The water system is apparently a big deal.
HDOT officials note that third parties “outside the boundaries” of the airport continue to inquire about the water system. And HDOT restates its “understanding that DOT will not be obligated to operate the water system outside the boundaries of the leasehold.”
And of course, the FAA is also party to this deliberation, as the state has accepted FAA grant money for airport improvements.
In the letter’s second to last paragraph, HDOT revoked earlier notices of termination.
But…
“DOT reserves its continuing right to early termination. If the advancement on a JUA and a long-term lease does not make continued and timely progress, and/or if the parties cannot resolve key issues such as the operation and maintenance of the water system or sufficient rights and powers to satisfy DOT’s federal grant assurances, DOT may find it necessary to exercise such right again.”
It is good that HDOT has revoked its early termination of the lease.
But the closing of the letter feels like I’ve just watched a can being kicked almost three years into the future. After all, July 5, 2024, the lease’s actual termination date, will be here before we know it.
This is where the family feud analogy comes full circle in my mind. HDOT, the Army, and the FAA are all cousins, and on this topic, they aren’t getting along all that well.
I am hopeful that calmer and perhaps more sober heads from other parts of the family will prevail and help bring resolution for all sides in this discussion.
The vast majority of daily operations at Dillingham come from skydiving, gliding, and other general aviation operations. The Army’s use of the airfield is for “night operations for night vision device training” and Civil Air Patrol training.
If ever there was a symbiotic relationship, this is it.
I hope this ends well.
José Serra says
Right You’re, Mr. MICHAEL CROGNALE.
Norb Wethington says
I’m a glider pilot from Ohio. Dillingham offers us “mainlanders” a rare opportunity to get the flight time to earn our SSA “Bronze Badge” on-site and easily — finding the proper setting for two separate 2-hour duration flights anywhere on the mainland is rare but not at Dillingham. Get up on that ridge-lift and you can stay up all day if you like.
R.Lopaka says
Hope it stays! Lived a few miles away from Dillingham for 20 years. Always fun to watch the gliders & jumpers over a picnic! On the way you could watch the Polo matches. And don’t forget da Shave Ice at Matsumotos!! Maholo!
Miami Mike says
OK, I’m confused . . .
When I was young (and we rode dinosaurs to school, twenty miles in the snow, uphill both ways), democratic scandals usually involved sex and republican scandals usually involved money.
I doubt this is a partisan squabble, it just appears to be a turf war between government agencies. As usual, we will lose, when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.
MICHAEL A. CROGNALE says
Developers salivating over the property most likely. Given the massive corruption in the democrat government, there’s a surprise, I would not be shocked to learn that money is on the line. The water system seems like convenient excuse.