STAND. COM. REP. 132
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: H.B. No. 840
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Transportation and Tourism and Culture, to which was referred H.B. No. 840 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AERONAUTICS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to assist airlines by:
(1) Allowing the Director of Transportation (DOT) to adopt rules to reduce landing fees for any airline that increases the number of flights into or out of any county in the State, other than a county having a population of 500,000 persons; and
(2) Providing for a calculation, through a formula specified by the adopted rules, to determine whether flights into or out of any county in the State, other than a county having a population of 500,000 persons, have increased.
DOT testified in support of the intent of this measure.
The unprecedented economic downturn faced by the airline industry as a result of September 11th, has greatly affected the ability of inter-island air carriers to offer adequate services for Hawaii's citizens, especially those on the neighbor islands. Hawaii's airways are our highways, and this decrease in service has seriously affected persons commuting between islands for work or for leisure travel.
Your Committees understand the concerns raised by DOT that the development of rules to waive landing fees for certain carriers may be inconsistent with federal laws and that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will need to be consulted on this matter. Although the FAA has allowed for the waiving of landing fees in the past as a subsidy for air carriers, this was only acceptable if the policy was temporary or for promotional purposes.
Nevertheless, your Committees note that the problems faced by the citizens of this State, and the economic ramifications caused by the decrease in service from inter-island air carriers must be resolved. Accordingly, this measure has been amended by:
(1) Clarifying that the reduction of landing fees is to be a temporary program;
(2) Clarifying that the reduction of landing fees is only applicable to airlines that have regularly scheduled flights between the major islands in the State;
(3) Adding language to repeal the program in 2005; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, conformity, and style.
Your Committees would like to note that although this measure is mainly aimed at assisting locally-based air carriers, any air carrier that increases its flights between counties in the State would be eligible for waiving of the landing fees.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Tourism and Culture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 840, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 840, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Tourism and Culture,
____________________________ JERRY L. CHANG, Chair |
____________________________ JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair |
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