Mokulele Airlines (MHO, Kona) suspended part of its flight operations connecting the Hawaiian islands on August 17 due to "potential discrepancies in the documentation of a recent landing gear" maintenance. The carrier plans to resume full operations on August 21.
Following the discovery of the potential discrepancies during routine maintenance, "as a precautionary step to uphold our rigorous safety standards, we've decided to temporarily ground affected aircraft in Hawai'i while we conduct thorough inspections," the president of Hawai'i Operations, Louis Saint-Cyr, said.
The Hawai'i Department of Transportation acknowledged that it had received the notification from the airline and was supportive of its safety precautions.
Mokulele Airlines, a division of Southern Airways Express (9X, Memphis International), serves Honolulu, Kahului, Kalaupapa, Hana, Kona, Kamuela, Kaunakakai, Kapalua, and Lanai City airports. It is the only airline serving Hana, Kamuela, Kaunakakai, and Kapalua. The airline said it would focus on serving Kahului, Honolulu, Kaunakakai, and Lanai during the disruption.
The carrier also enlisted help from Transair Express (R9, Honolulu), rebooking some of its passengers to the charters Transair runs with its sole B737-200 between Honolulu and Lanai.
Southern Airways Express operates a total fleet of forty-one Cessna (single turboprop) C208 Grand Caravans, eleven of which are dedicated to Hawaiian operations under the Mokulele Airlines brand. The carrier's Part 135-certified fleet also comprises four PC-12-45s, four PC-12-47Es, two Saab 340Bs, and three Tecnam P2012s.
