LIHU’E – Passengers aboard an American Airlines jet flying non-stop from Dallas to Honolulu today were calm and at ease, but breathed even easier as the plane moved out over the Pacific Ocean. “I think it’s as safe today as
LIHU’E – Passengers aboard an American Airlines jet flying non-stop from Dallas to Honolulu today were calm and at ease, but breathed even easier as the plane moved out over the Pacific Ocean.
“I think it’s as safe today as it was Monday, because all they did was blow up some buildings,” said Kenny Bishop of Dallas, Texas. “It’s probably safer to fly today than ever.”
He and his brother, Robin Bishop of Seattle, were waiting to board an American Airlines flight bound originally for Los Angeles on Tuesday, boarding passes in hand and checked luggage in the cargo hold, when the terrorist attacks began in New York City.
Without explanation, they said, they were told their flight was canceled, and all the bags from all the flights were brought to a baggage claim area in Dallas, where 500 people sorted through thousands of bags.
Finally, a tearful American Airlines counter agent told them of the catastrophe unfolding back east, said the brothers, here for a golf and sightseeing vacation.
Before boarding their flight in Dallas, there was a moment of silence observed in the airport, and a 45-minute wait at the gate so American agents could check actual passengers against the name list.
The brothers chuckled about being the “lucky,” chosen ones to have their checked luggage (golf clubs in plastic cases, other baggage) X-rayed at every airport where they boarded a jet.
Without any reservations at all, they walked up to the Hawaiian Airlines ticket counter in Honolulu, and 15 minutes later were on their way to Kaua’i.
Kenny Bishop’s wife, the former Suzanne Lester, is a former Kaua’i resident who finally convinced her husband to come to the island.
Of the outbound passengers who spoke with The Garden Island Friday, the first full day of restored air travel, only a young mother with a nine-month-old daughter had much apprehension about flying in the aftermath of Tuesday’s multiple highjackings.
Waiting to check in at Hawaiian Airlines, John and Catherine Grant, nine-month-old daughter Cynthia Grant, and traveling companion Donna Waltmann, all of Santa Barbara, all agreed that stricter security procedures, and even the idea of undercover armed officers on board certain flights, put them more at ease.
Catherine Grant, though, toyed with the idea of at least exploring a ferry option from Honolulu to Los Angeles. They flew to Honolulu yesterday on Hawaiian, and today are on a Delta flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles.
Waltmann also expressed “stress” about flying, admitting being apprehensive about flying even before Tuesday’s events. “I generally feel safe,” she said.
“Maybe safer than ever,” said John Grant.
Rose and Steve Morrissey, from Lake Zurich, Ill., outside Chicago, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on Kaua’i, and were checking in for their originally scheduled United flight Friday, number 30 from Lihu’e to Los Angeles.
But making sure they were still booked wasn’t easy. Rose Morrissey tried for nearly three days to get through to United by telephone, finally coming down to the airport to secure the four flights over three days that will finally get them back to Chicago.
Friday, the couple flew to Los Angeles, but couldn’t get another flight out of Los Angeles eastbound until Sunday, when they will fly from Los Angeles to Denver, then Denver to Springfield, Mo., then Springfield to Chicago.
Waking up early Tuesday morning on Kaua’i in order to take a cruise down Na Pali Coast, they initially thought the radio reports were a tape, or some sort of joke.
They knew it was real when their boat was ordered to stay one mile, then two miles, away from the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, during their tour.
They both had no apprehension about getting on board any of their flights. “This is the safest time to fly,” Steve Morrissey said. “It’s the only way to get home,” she said.
The tightened security, even the reports they heard of men in military fatigues carrying automatic rifles in Honolulu, was comforting, they agreed.
“They were lulled into thinking it can’t happen here. Well, it did,” he said of the domestic terrorism.
He said he also likes the idea of undercover, armed officers aboard flights, and she explained that she heard they may be seated in first class, business or coach classes, at random.
Steve Morrissey would like to see European or Israeli-style security at domestic airports, “because then I would be 100 percent sure” of his family’s safety, he concluded.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
