US's Transair Hawaii gets brief dormancy extension reprieve

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has granted Transair (Hawaii) (RDS, Honolulu) a brief dormancy waiver until August 15 to allow the airline to petition the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) not to revoke its air safety certificate.

Transair (legal name Rhoades Aviation Inc.) is to meet with the FAA on August 10 to discuss the regulator’s proposed revocation of its air operator’s certificate (AOC) for various alleged safety violations.

In a June 30 letter to the airline’s attorney, the DOT said Transair Hawaii may submit a further request for an additional waiver before August 15. This must include updated air fitness information and evidence that it was making significant progress with the FAA to recommence operations. “If this information is not received by August 15, 2022, we will not consider further requests for a waiver and extension […] and will proceed with the revocation of Rhoades Aviation’s economic authority for the reason of dormancy without further notice,” the DOT stated.

It further noted that it would normally have denied the extension request since Transair Hawaii had submitted insufficient information for the DOT to determine its continued fitness.

The letter followed the airline’s petition in early June to extend its dormancy waiver by six months or until January 16, 2023.

Transair Hawaii has been grounded since July 16, 2021, after the FAA, on May 11, 2022, issued a notice proposing to revoke its AOC for safety violations following the crash of one of Transair Hawaii’s B737-200C freighters. The FAA made amendments to the airline’s operations specifications, resulting in the suspension of its Aircraft Inspection Programme (AIP).

Under standard DOT rules, the carrier must resume operations within one year – by July 16, 2022 – to avoid losing its operating certificates.

Transair Hawaii asserted it worked diligently with the FAA to revise and update its manuals and programmes to resume its operations.

The family-owned Part 121 carrier has been operating in Hawaii since 1965. It currently employs two B737-200(F)s, while its subsidiary Transair Express (R9, Honolulu) operates one B737-200, two B737-200Cs, and one B737-200(F), according to the ch-aviation fleets module.