Transair (Hawaii) (RDS, Honolulu) has petitioned the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to extend its dormancy waiver by six months or until January 16, 2023, as its recertification with the US Federal Aviation Administration is taking longer than expected.
"Rhoades Aviation [d/b/a Transair Hawaii] has been grounded since July 16, 2021, as a result of an operations specifications amendment by the FAA that resulted in the suspension of Rhoades' Aircraft Inspection Program ('AIP'). Although Rhoades Aviation is working diligently to address FAA issues, completion of the necessary actions and gating items to resume flight operations will not be completed by the current one-year deadline of July 16, 2022," the carrier said.
Under standard DOT rules, carriers that have suspended operations for one full year lose their certificates of public convenience and necessity and must reapply from scratch.
Transair Hawaii was grounded in July 2021 due to safety violations identified by the FAA following the crash of one of its B737-200Cs. The carrier said the FAA recently proposed a way forward, and there were plans to hold a meeting with the regulator, but it had yet to be scheduled.
"Rhoades Aviation is, and has been, working diligently on revisions and updates to its manuals and programs to address the items that the FAA has claimed form the basis for the OpSpecs amendments. The Certification Management Team has provided feedback on the revised manuals, albeit in some instances taking up to 70 days or more to do so. Earlier this year, RAI hired at great expense the well-known, highly respected, and top-quality certification and manual firm, Cavok, to assist RAI with these manual/program actions and its efforts to resume flight operations," the Hawaiian cargo specialist said.
The family-owned Part 121 carrier has been operating in Hawaii since 1965. It currently employs (including aircraft placed with its Part 135 Transair Express (R9, Honolulu) subsidiary) one B737-200, two B737-200(C)s, and two B737-200(F)s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
