11 minute read
Airports
Administration
SEABIRDS continued from page 6
• Reduction of exterior light use during the months of September to December (noted as seabird “fallout” season). This includes dimming or turning off lights when not needed, use of full cut-off fixtures, shielding lights, angle all lights downward, or changing light color to non-white. • Control or reduce the amount of predators on property that may harm downed seabirds • Provide training for personnel responding to downed seabirds • Provide outreach and education materials for the public to report downed seabirds • During “fallout” season, monitor and search for down seabirds • Reduction or change near shoreline lights to minimize honu disorientation • Monitor for honu nesting
Each applicant developed a specific plan for avoidance and minimization measures on their respective properties. These plans, called Participant Inclusion Plans (PIPs), are tailored to the geography, type of business or activity at the site, and any special considerations for specific activities the applicant must perform to minimize injuring or harming any of the listed seabirds.
A very exciting project included in the KSHCP is the construction and management of the Kahuama‘a Seabird Preserve for the listed seabirds. The seabird preserve site will be located in the north-west of Kaua‘i, along the rim of the Kalalau Valley, straddling two State parks: Kōke‘e and the Nā Pali Coast. The preserve will construct predator proof fencing, install attraction equipment (such as recorded bird calls, artificial nests, etc.), and remove predators within the preserve boundary. This will be a great opportunity for the conservation and restoration of the listed seabirds.
The KSHCP and Kahuama‘a Seabird Preserve shows how much private-public entities can work together for the conservation of native species.
HURRICANE continued from page 4
Should you evacuate to an emergency shelter, think about bringing the following:
• Water (1 gallon per person per day) • Food • Blankets • Emergency supplies (such as flashlights ) • Medications and any special need items • Face masks and hand sanitizer
In addition, listed below are some very useful websites that might help you and your teams prepare.
Hurricane App (downloadable free of charge). http://www.redcross.org/mobile-apps/ hurricane-app American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/ hurricane
Be Red Cross Ready Hurricane Safety Checklist brochure http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_ CustomProductCatalog/m4340160_Hurricane. pdf
National Weather Service Central Pacific Hurricane Center http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/cphc/
State of Hawaii – Hawaii Emergency Management Agency http://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/
Airports
A Tale of An Empty Airport
Article & Photos Courtesy of: Shafkat Anowar, Ka Leo
Published 5/25/20. Reprinted with permission.
In the midst of the pandemic, essential airport workers take on a heavier work load.
Empty kiosks. Deserted chairs. Vacant parking lots. Running escalators. Daniel K. Inouye International Airport adapts to a “new normal.”
A passenger walks by the empty airport shops at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport 5/19/20.
Airport security with barely any people to be seen.
See EMPTY AIRPORT page 9
Big Plans for KOA’s 50th Birthday
By: Rae Nguyen
With artwork beautifully done by graphic designer Darryll Akamine, orders for commemorative buttons, street pole banners and t-shirts are well underway to arrive by the end of June - just before
KOA’s 50th anniversary
July 1.
Though plans for a celebration have scaled back, Airport District Manager Chauncey Wong Yuen wants to share the airport’s legacy and to show how far it’s come.
Check out how our airport looks back in 1970 to now. More photos can be found at aviation.hawaii.gov/aviation-photos/1970-1979/
Happy Retirement!
NAME YEARS with DOT
Raymond Kishaba 6
Donna Jinbo 34
Merry Figueroa
Roberta Cabanilla 22
24
Glenn Tanaguchi 12
Guy Kitaoka 29
Donald Ouderkirk Jr. 29
Robert Saito, Jr.
Katherine Lengkeek
John Joseph Payn
Douglas Lee
Warlito Campos
Luzvimninda Cadiz
Timothy Wayer
David Bernabe 30
21
15
26
24
40
29
20
Terence Planas
Kenneth Santiago 31
21
US military personnel Abel Leon (R) bids farewell to his mother, Evonne Leon (L), farewell at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport 5/19/20. According to Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT), travelers have decreased about 98% compared to last year’s stats.
Airports
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Cleaning and Sanitizing Everyday
Taking a walk in the airport with barely anyone around may feel eerie, but not for essential custodial workers. They continue to sanitize the different sections of the terminals, prioritizing the safety of others before their own.
Evelyn Meyers has been working as a custodial worker for two decades and her co-worker Kristy Keli is right behind her with almost two decades of work herself. Their work activities have remained the same, but the ongoing pandemic has increased the workloads of the custodial workers. On a regular shift, they are responsible to clean anything they find under the roof.
“Everything from top to bottom, curb to wall, that’s all ours to clean. But with the pandemic going on we just doubled up on everything,” Meyers said.
Things that were required to be cleaned once a day are now required to be cleaned continuously. This forces custodial workers to constantly be on the move to fulfill their responsibilities for the day. According to Meyers, it’s like working a double shift in a single eight-hour shift.
Wearing masks while dusting was a part of their protocol before the pandemic, and now gloves and goggles are mandated as well. The airport authority has also provided the workers with Tyvek suits and face shields as an option for
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport custodial worker Evelyn Meyers and Kristy Keli poses for a portrait 5/19/20. Meyers has worked in this position for the past two decades and Keli is right behind her with almost two decades of work herself.
Airports
Maui ARFF Adopts a National Guard Team
By: Brian Kamimoto
OGG ARFF Green Shift fires up the barbie for some ‘ono prime rib.
National Guard troops have been deployed in all 50 states to help battle the COVID-19 pandemic in a wide variety of assignments.
Unlike previous deployments and because of the possibility of spreading COVID-19 to their families, the Guard members are on lockdown and confined to their hotels before and after their shifts and days off.
To express their support, and appreciation to the National Guard teams that were initially deployed to Kahului Airport, the ARFF Department’s Red, Blue and Green shifts each adopted a team to prepare dinner for.
Captain Colby Hanley’s Red shift opted for an old-fashioned chili and rice cook out with mac salad on the side for Sgt. Jake Garcia’s team.
Blue shift with Captain Donny Nolasco as the head chef, went the barbeque route with their Traeger grill for Sgt. Kilohana Abilay’s team.
Captain Leighton Fafard and his chefs from
Green shift also used the Traeger grill for prime rib with all the fixings for Sgt. Justin Corpuz’s team.
Meanwhile over on Molokai and not to be outdone, Captain Matt Pires and his B shift crew also slow-cooked prime rib for Sgt. J.P. Pardo’s team.
OGG ARFF Red Shift gets ingredients ready for meal prep.
Must See Aviation Movies to Watch:
• Sully • The Terminal • Disney’s Planes • Die Hard 2 • Snakes on a Plane • The Aviator • Flight • Airplane! • Hot Shots • Up in the Air • Air Force One • Red Eye • The Flight of the Phoenix • Tora! Tora! Tora! • Con Air • United 93 • Non-Stop • Disney’s Fire & Rescue • Flight Plan • The Red Baron • Pearl Harbor • Executive Decision • Airplane vs. Volcano • The Naked Gun • Flyboys • Passenger 57 • The Delta Force
EMPTY AIRPORT continued from page 9
Things that were required to be cleaned once a day are now required to be cleaned continuously. As a result, the workers tend to squeeze extra responsibilities to cope up with their schedules.
precaution.
“It’s not a part of every day and it’s not required but some people felt more protected with it on even with using a mask. We have those available,” Keli mentioned.
Working at a high-risk place like the airport is a major concern for the workers, but working is not a choice for them.
“I have to work. I have bills to pay. So it’s a must for me,” Meyers said. “If I had the choice to stay home, to be nonessential, I will be happy. I wouldn’t have to take it home to my family. The part is that I gotta work.”
To maintain a safe distance and reduce exposure, airport workers are scheduled in several different groups based upon their availability. This process provides them with backups in case something happens.
“If something should come up then our whole group stays quarantined. That way we still have five or six other groups that can cover what we had to leave off,” Keli explained.
Due to her high risk of exposure to the virus, Keli likes to take additional safety measures after returning to her home after every shift, adding more steps to her daily routine. “Before, I could go home in my uniform and I wouldn’t worry about it. Now I take everything off. Everything goes in its own bag. As soon as I go home, it goes to the washing machine,” Keli said.
Keli considers herself to be lucky as she is still able to work. Although her work puts her at higher risk of exposure to the virus, she is grateful for what she is doing.
“This is our livelihood. We have to have an income. Without this income we would be like the thousands without a job right now. So we are thankful that we still have a job,” Keli said.
The situation can be different for the airport workers every day. Especially during this time, flights from high-risk destinations come with uncertainty. Keli thinks the best defense to that is to be cautious.
“We are worried, we are scared. Every day there is a new task but we are more cautious. It’s being cautious about how we do things and how we clean ourselves,” Keli said.
Meyers and Keli consider themselves to be on the frontlines as their job is to ensure safety for the people gathering at the airport. Starting from chairs to elevators, workers like them go
extra
Airports
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Flight passenger Grace Mikkelsen spends some time sewing in the empty terminal of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport before her flight to Alaska 5/19/20.
Airports
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out of their way to keep the airport as safe as possible.
“We are actually getting contact with the first ones who arrive here. A lot of people don’t see us as a front line but we are the front line because we clean the bathroom. If a sick person goes in the bathroom and it’s not properly sanitized it’s just going to keep on passing and passing, spreading and spreading,” Keli said.
This custodial duo was present during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, but according to them, it did not affect their work as much as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It wasn’t this way with no one here. Not too many flights were restricted. We didn’t have a quarantine ban. This is a lot more serious,” Keli said.
Fewer flights, fewer people
Along with interisland flights, domestic flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland and Guam are arriving on a regular basis.
According to Tim Sakahara, Public Information Officer of the Hawaii Department of Transportation, there are currently twelve to fourteen flights a day (domestic and international) whereas before the pandemic it was hundreds.
About 21 million passengers flew to and from Oʻahu in 2019. Due to COVID-19, the traveling rate has decreased by about 98% compared to last year. The passenger count in Honolulu was about 40,000 (excluding flights from Canada) in the period of March 19-22 of 2019, which declined to less than 5,000 during the same period of 2020. “Never saw a passenger. Some days were like that. You see people walking around who work here and everything but you don’t see passengers,” Sakahara explained.
Under normal circumstances, the peak time for passengers to gather is between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and after 7 p.m. to the red-eye flights. With summer break approaching, it was supposed to be a different picture of Hawaiʻi – people sunbathing on the beaches, long lines at the airport kiosks, busy hiking trails, etc. However, with COVID-19, everything has changed.
Mardey and his significant other, Renny, spend time together at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport 5/19/20. Renny was catching one of the few flights flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles.
