KAHULUI — The suspension of Pacific Wings air service to Kalaupapa was called a "disaster" by the superintendent of the national historic park, but it may be over soon.

Residents, workers and tourists, however, likely will pay more and get less service, including no cargo service at all, and Pacific Wings co-owner Greg Kahlstorf said the blame lies with the state Department of Transportation.
"I'm tired of fighting," he said in a telephone interview yesterday. From now on, Pacific Wings will structure its fares and policies "exactly" like what other airlines do.
"If they charge for the first piece of baggage, we'll charge for the first piece of baggage," he said.
The new fares were to go into effect at 5 p.m. today and will apply to all new reservations. Existing paid tickets and reservations will be honored at the old rate, and vouchers will be accepted for their face value toward tickets at the new rate.
Yesterday, Kahlstorf said Pacific Wings would start flying as soon as he could audit his maintenance hangar at Kahului Airport.
Meanwhile, state Transportation Director Brennon Morioka said yesterday he had received inquiries from other airlines about serving Kalaupapa.
Kahlstorf, never happy about the way the Airports Division has treated his business, said he was pushed to the edge by an assault on an employee by state officials Tuesday. Maui police interviewed witnesses and concluded it was a civil matter.
The confrontation stemmed from an attempt by airport security personnel to deliver three citations for a fuel spill and improper storage of fuel June 15. The citations carry fines of about $400.
When Pacific Wings starts flying again, Kahlstorf said he will replace counter workers with courtesy phones and is hiring armed off-duty police officers to protect his office workers.
Morioka denied anybody was touched, and said passengers and nearby workers for other airlines corroborate the version told by Sercuritas airport police. Kahlstorf responded to that with an expletive.
"I'm tired of having my young employees calling me terrified and in tears," he said.
Steve Prokop, superintendent at Kalaupapa National Historic Park, said yesterday he was trying to arrange a charter plane to take 10 park employees to their homes topside on Molokai, but he didn't yet know how he would get them back Monday.
"Obviously, in a remote area, we are completely reliant on Pacific Wings as the sole commercial airline," he said.
At least he didn't have to deal with stranded tourists, because "they didn't get here, they were stopped in Honolulu," he said.
Prokop said he was worried about residents who need to fly out for medical care or business. The flights "ground to a halt without any grace period or notice," he said.
Kahlstorf said that from now on, he is pulling his airline away from all airports except the designated essential air service points of Kahului, Honolulu, Kalaupapa, Hana and Kamuela on the Big Island.
The essential air service is a federal program to guarantee air service to remote places that commercial airlines have been unwilling to serve. The federal program can provide subsidies, but several years ago Pacific Wings weaned itself off subsidies in Hawaii and Hobbs, N.M. It has, however, agreed with the Federal Aviation Administration to provide a minimum number of flights (two a day to Kalaupapa). So long as an unsubsidized airline is serving an essential air service location, no other airline can seek a subsidized route, although other airlines could come in commercially.
Despite complaints, for example from Prokop, that Pacific Wings flights are too expensive, Kahlstorf said his airline's flights are very close to subsidized fares elsewhere in the nation. For example, Clovis to Albuquerque in New Mexico is $218 one way.
In the future, Pacific Wings fares and services will be even closer to national norms, Kahlstorf said. He had his staff researching fares and policies, comparing big airlines like Delta and subsidized carriers like Great Lakes and Mesa.
He said he doesn't want the state Department of Transportation to be able to say he is retaliating or discriminating, so he is setting his operation to mimic other operations elsewhere.
Prices are going up in part, he said, because he and his partner, Frank Ford, "have subsidized Kalaupapa for years," and in part because he is going to have to add the fines, legal fees and extra expenses to the airfares.
Kahlstorf was infuriated when he read that Morioka said he was not serving the interests of his customers. "Who do you think buys most of the tickets to Kalaupapa?" he asks.
It's the state, he said.
He blames the state for creating the problem with its heavy-handed attempt to deliver a citation for a fuel spill Tuesday. Kahlstorf said Morioka should be looking out for Kalaupapa residents.
Although it is contested what happened when Securitas police arrived, it is not disputed that there were five of them — along with someone not in uniform.
Morioka said it's standard procedure to give citations to the "supervisor of the day." The airport police insisted that they wanted to put the citations against Pacific Wings in the hands of airline President Gabe Kimbrell, although Kimbrell said he was not allowed to accept citations.
Kahlstorf disputed Morioka's version. "Do you think they are going to send five officers to deliver a piece of paper to (Hawaiian Airlines CEO) Mark Dunkerley and insist on barging into his office to do it?"