LIHU‘E — Hawai‘i state officials on Friday said that a Securitas security guard’s decision last week to kick a group of stranded tourists out of Lihu‘e Airport and into heavy storms was an embarrassment to the state. Heavy rains hammered
LIHU‘E — Hawai‘i state officials on Friday said that a Securitas security guard’s decision last week to kick a group of stranded tourists out of Lihu‘e Airport and into heavy storms was an embarrassment to the state.
Heavy rains hammered Kaua‘i Monday, flooding neighborhoods, toppling trees onto highways, overflowing sewers, forcing evacuations and making many roads impassable. Both the mayor and the governor issued emergency and disaster proclamations for the county in response to damage caused by a week’s worth of relentless rain.
When heavy rains canceled flights out of Kaua‘i after midnight on Tuesday, about 20 passengers were stuck at the Lihu‘e Airport.
The airport normally closes overnight, and a guard told the passengers — including a pregnant woman and a disabled man — that they needed to leave immediately, The Associated Press reported.
“Everybody is flabbergasted that the security guard wouldn’t let them stay at the airport,” Department of Transportation spokesman Daniel Meisenzahl told AP. “He basically put them out on the curb in this terrible rainstorm.”
The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and Hawaiian Airlines have been trying to help state officials contact the kicked-out passengers so they could get personal apologies. The state’s lieutenant governor, Brian Schatz, managed to reach one couple by phone at their Littleton, Colo., home on Thursday.
“I said we’re sorry and we wanted to express our aloha,” Schatz said to AP about the 15-minute phone call. “There’s nothing that can be done to undo this mistake. I imagined myself, and my wife, being treated like this. I thought it was important to try to make it right.”
Michael Young, who was on Kaua‘i with his wife celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, described the apology from Schatz as “heart-felt.”
Kaua‘i Office of Economic Development Director George Costa told The Garden Island on Saturday, “I’m sure it will have some effect on tourism, but hopefully the lieutenant governor reaching out and apologizing to the couple will help.”
Costa said staff members at the airport are regrouping this week to look at procedures and ensure this doesn’t happen again.
Young, 71, told AP that the security guard had threatened to call police if the passengers didn’t leave. Young and his wife were among about 10 people who couldn’t get a hotel room. Other passengers managed to get rooms and rental cars, but many hotels were booked or inaccessible because of flooded roads.
Meanwhile, Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, was stuck at the Honolulu airport, trying to return home, when she heard there might be problems at the airport in Lihu‘e. She asked her husband, an off-duty fire captain, to drive over.
That’s when a five-day vacation full of mostly rainy days turned around for the Youngs.
“There was this kind, Hawaiian fireman. Bless his heart,” Young said. “He had to be an angel. He commandeered a taxi that took us to a shelter.”
At the crowded shelter, the soaking wet Youngs had to sleep on a concrete floor but were welcomed with hospitality, including a woman who brought them bananas from her yard.
“They were so gracious. They were such kind representatives of Hawai‘i,” Young said. “Thank God for the shelter.”
They headed back to the airport at 5 a.m. and caught a 35-minute flight to Honolulu and then to Denver.
The guard for Securitas, a company contracted by the state, has been reassigned, Meisenzahl told AP.
Sanj Sappal, an area vice president for Securitas, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser an investigation into policies and procedures is under way.
The state and Securitas normally have a good relationship, Meisenzahl said, adding that the guard “wasn’t following rules of common sense” and should have notified a supervisor and the state about the situation. He said the airport would have opened a room for the passengers and made restrooms available.
“The travel industry and tourism is our No. 1 industry,” he said. “The airport is where everyone has their first and last impression of Hawai‘i.”
Costa said, “As far as the gentleman that made that call (to evict the passengers),” he was doing his job.
It’s the third time in two months The Garden Island has published reports about travelers voicing complaints about Lihu‘e Airport personnel — twice involving Securitas guards and once involving a TSA screener.
Jan. 15, a column published by the newspaper recounted an unpleasant, first-hand experience with Securitas guards. Many letters from community members relating similar experienced followed.
On Feb. 27, the airport made national news when TSA would not allow a Maui woman traveling home with her infant to pass through security with her breast pump because her milk bottles were empty.
The Department of Transportation apologized on behalf of the employees each time.
Earlier reports about the airport cited theft charges against a business services supervisor, TSA fines for security breaches in 2010, and a management-caused security breach that required the evacuation of a terminal in 2009. Former airport manager George “Manu” Crabbe III was placed on leave last summer from his post of five years and never returned.
Last fall, The Garden Island reported that Transportation Department Director Brennon Morioka said internal and state investigations were ongoing concerning allegations related to former business services supervisor Maycia-Rea Matsuyoshi.
In June, the Attorney General’s office charged Matsuyoshi with three counts of second-degree theft. Transportation officials said she is accused of stealing approximately $13,000 in airport funds over a period of several months.
Skinner initially assumed Crabbe’s duties in his absence. Roy Sakata took over shortly after as the acting airport manager pending a permanent replacement by DOT. Sakata flies over from O‘ahu a few times a week.
Costa conceded that the lack of a regular managing director at the airport “might have something to do with” recent news reports of personnel issues at the airport.
Meisenzahl told The Garden Island on Saturday that the recent incidents at Lihu‘e Airport are examples of why selecting the right candidate for the role of airport manager is so critical, but added that TSA is the overseeing agency at the airport for security.
“There have been a number of things that have happened at Lihu‘e,” he said, “and we’re trying to work on relationships with TSA and Securitas. Those relationships need to be worked on. I don’t think there’s a real spirit of unity there like you see at other airports.”
Additional information on Securitas complaints and the status of the airport manager position will be made available in the coming week, Meisenzahl said.
• Jennifer Sinco Kelleher of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
