HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

275

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting congress to enact enabling legislation to permit state regulation of interisland air carriers by an air carrier commission ESTABLISHED pursuant to act 332, session laws of hawaii 1993.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, interisland air transportation is of paramount importance to the State and its economy; and

 

     WHEREAS, being an island state, Hawaii is unique among her sister states in having no major highway system connecting various points throughout the state; and

 

WHEREAS, residents and visitors must depend almost exclusively upon interisland air transportation to meet their transport mobility needs; and

 

     WHEREAS, consequently, a safe, efficient, and economical interisland air transportation system is essential for the public safety and welfare; and

 

     WHEREAS, of perhaps even more significance to the state's economy is the availability of frequent, reliable, and economical interisland air cargo transportation; and

 

     WHEREAS, an increase in air shipping rates or a reduction in the number of flights to carry cargo interisland will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on Neighbor Island farmers and result in higher prices for all commodities shipped by air, including food, medicine, machinery parts, and clothing; and

 

     WHEREAS, accordingly, it is critical that Hawaii's interisland air transportation system continue to operate in a competitive environment to protect consumers from price gouging and unacceptable service levels; and


     WHEREAS, the Legislature has long been concerned over maintaining a competitive environment for Hawaii's interisland air transportation system; and

 

     WHEREAS, for example, such concern prompted the Legislature, through Act 332, Session Laws of Hawaii 1993, to establish a comprehensive process to regulate interisland air transportation; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 332 established an Air Carrier Commission (Commission) having general supervision over all Hawaii air carriers and any related company that provides air transportation; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 332 further provided that no person may engage in intrastate air transportation without having first been granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity by the Commission; and

 

     WHEREAS, the general powers of the Commission include regulating air carriers through its investigative powers, establishing reasonable classifications of air carriers, and adopting rules to regulate those classes; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 332 recognized, however, that the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, expressly preempts the states from enacting or enforcing any law, rule, or regulation "relating to rates, routes, or services of any air carrier having federal operating authority"; and

 

     WHEREAS, furthermore, federal statutes and case law make clear that air travel between the Hawaiian islands is considered interstate or overseas air transportation; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 332 therefore made the establishment of an air carrier commission contingent upon enactment of federal legislation permitting such a regulatory scheme; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that in the past, proposed mergers of interisland air carriers would have resulted in one air carrier dominating intrastate air traffic, thus having a tremendous impact on the health, safety, welfare, and general transportation needs of the people of Hawaii; and


     WHEREAS, the Legislature is concerned that a loss of air carrier competition could have a severely negative impact on residents of and visitors to Hawaii due to:

 

(1)  An increase in air passenger ticket and cargo fares;

 

(2)  A reduction in the frequency or availability of certain routes; and

 

(3)  An increase in unemployment and its attendant costs to society, as work forces are consolidated;

 

and

 

     WHEREAS, in particular, the Legislature is concerned that loss of interisland air carrier competition could negatively affect the struggling economies of the Neighbor Islands, by reducing visitor travel to the Neighbor Islands, as a result of increased ticket fares and reduced flights, and negatively affect commerce by increasing the cost of goods air shipped by Neighbor Island producers, as well as those shipped to Neighbor Island consumers; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that our sister state of Alaska has similar challenges to meeting the needs of its people with regard to air transportation and has recently been granted authority by Congress to regulate air travel in their state to protect the public interest; and

 

     WHEREAS, given the potential negative impacts of the loss of interisland air carrier competition on consumers, the State of Hawaii should have the authority to regulate air travel to protect the public's interests; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the United States Congress is requested to enact enabling legislation that would permit state regulation of interisland air carriers by an Air Carrier Commission pursuant to Act 332, Session Laws of Hawaii 1993; and


     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Enabling legislation to permit state regulation of interisland air carriers.