Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2001 — Aircraft tour company grows its Kona fleet with OHA loan [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aircraft tour company grows its Kona fleet with OHA loan

By Caitriona Kearns

In Kona and at visitor activity desks around Hawai'i, Mokulele Flight Service sales representatives in black and white checkered palaka uniforms make daily calls to keep the visitor industry abreast of their company's aircraft tour business. It is this attention to customer relations and having enough employees to pound the pavement servicing passenger contracts that Kawehi Inaba attributes to the success of her tour business. Inaba is the only Native Hawaiian woman in the U.S. who owns and operates a Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 operation,

whieh means she is authorized to take passengers up in the air for hire. She bought her first airplane in 1996 while she had a part-time flight instruction business. Today, she has a fleet of four planes that give two-hour tours of the island to couples or small groups. "I never imagined myself being the largest fixed winger carrier on this island," Inaba said. One thing led to another and she has outpaced her competitors on Hawai'i. When Inaba first got her flight instructor certificate in 1994, she was working as a customer service agent for Aloha Airlines and doing flight instruction on the side. Quickly, she realized that she wanted to diversify and started working towards an air carrier certificate that allowed her to take passengers on tours and charters. "It

seems to me when I look back, one door opened, and then the next, and the next," she explained. "It has been fun for me," Inaba said. "My joy is providing jobs and a niee salary for loeal pilots so they don't have to go to the Mainland to build time on their licenses." With nine pilots on the roster as well as herself, she ean safely say that they are clocking up hours while entertaining plenty of passengers. An Office of Hawaiian Affairs Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund business loan of $75,000 paid for Inaba's second airplane purchase in January 2000. While she nearly qualified for a First Hawaiian Bank business loan, Inaba was relieved to have had the opportunity to finance this plane with OHA's low-interest rates. "Thanks to OHA my numbers are better today, because I was able to buy a third plane with financing from Textron Financial, and I am bankable now," she explained. With a staff of 18, Inaba no longer takes to the air in her planes. She prefers to manage the operation from the ground where her talents are eonstantly being challenged. "I run into a lot of brick walls. I'm glad that I have, because it has made me stronger. I go into survivor mode," she said. Just three weeks ago, she had an Aloha Airlines baggage cart run into one of her planes after they had just finished repairs on the whole back. Inaba's philosophy is to have reasonable expectations of her business. She has found her approach rewarding because she does not feel frustrated, as she ean easily achieve the next step she takes, whether it be the purchase of a new plane or an expansion in Hilo. Helping her keep her energy focused on the business is her husband and extended family who have encouraged and supported her tremendously. However, she knows not to push her husband too far. "I have to remember not to talk about the company all the time," she smiled. ■

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— — — i — ■ v . — . «wmm- — a Kawehi lnaba, owner of Mokulele Flight servlce at Keōhole Alrport, with one of her four aircraft. Photo: Coitiiono Keams.