Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 1, 1 January 1997 — — 11,000 fliht hours later Commercial Flyer goes from fish spotting to charters with OHA loan [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

— 11,000 fliht hours later Commercial Flyer goes from fish spotting to charters with OHA loan

* ^ .-'w viir w5 by Barbra An Pleadwell ' ' ' '^' -'(^l -£k ' | : • — — Wally Suenaga began flying planes when he was 14 years old as part of the Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the Air Force. Eleven thousand flight hours later, he owns _

planes, four of them, and uses them to make a living. Suenaga was certified by the Federa Aviation Administration (FAA) in November 1995 to do charters. For 20 years, Suenaga used his planes to spot fish for commerciaI fisheries. The FAA certification and two loans from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), enabled him to diversify his business, "Commercial Flyer." "Fish spotting is a seasonal business," Suenaga said, "We want to be flying all year." 1 With the OHA loans, Suenaga t restored a nine-passenger Cessna 402, and bought a four-seater Cessna 150. "I guess you could say that (FAA certification) has been the

highlight of my career," Suenaga said. Commercial Flyer offers island tours, specializing in trips to Hawai'i Island to view the volcanoes. Suenaga also helps with radio station traffic reports, and rents out planes to flight students. Moloka'i Shuttle sometimes uses Commercial Flyer when it has overbooked. Suenaga sometimes gets calls in the middle of the night to help get people to the neighbor islands when Aie^We arrived too late to catch a flight. Celebrities )ason Priestly, of the television show 90210, and musician David Crosby were two of those

calls. Perhaps the most interesting Commercial Flyer clients are members of a pigeon club. Club members hire v* *' Commercial Flyer to take their pigeons to Moloka'i where Suenaga lets them loose and they find

their way home. The owner of the bird that returns home first wins a prize. "After I got 'e my certification, I started with the pigeons, and then

moved into air service." Suenaga's first job flying planes was with Commercial Sky Dive Hawai'i in the 1970s. Three years later, he began fish spotting. After ten years of flying other people's planes, he bought his first and started Commercial Flyers. In another five years, he bought a second plane. "We wanted to diversify for a long time but we couldn't get a loan because we

weren't bankable," said Stephanie Suenaga„ Suenaga's wife. "But now we are, thanks to the OHA loan." The Suenagas have since been able to establish a credit history and recently were able to take out another loan with Central Pacific Bank. Stephanie does the bookkeeping for the business, and also works for American Airlines. Most of Commercial Flyer's new business comes from the yellow pages or word of mouth. But the Suenagas are looking into other ways to promote their business. Travelers ean find out about Commercial Flyer through the internet. Through Hawai'i Network Travel, people ean contact Commercial Flyer by e-mail. Hyers and brochures

for Commercial Hyer are in the works, and the company is hsted in the Native Hawaiian BusineSs Directory published by OHA. Just as things started to piek up for Commercial Hyer, the Suenagas faced some difficult times. Around the time Suenaga received his FAA certification, his mother, Nora Gasper died. Then in the beginning of 1996, he was in a mowing accident and was in the hospital for several months. "Everything had to stop — my work, my time ! with the kids," Suenaga said. "But now I'm on top of the world." j The Suenagas have three sons. Suenaga is also known as a member of the musical group Olomana. He plays bass and does backup singing. For more information about OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund eall 5941921.

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