Aviation associations are celebrating the defeat of Hawaii Senate Bill 2747, which would have required air tour operators to carry aircraft liability coverage of $20 million per person per incident. AOPA, NBAA, and NATA collaborated with the Vertical Aviation Association (VAI) on steps to oppose the bill.
S.B. 2747 was introduced by Senator Chris Lee (D-District 25) in January and would have required $1 million per person per incident liability insurance. This version of the bill passed in both the Hawaii Senate and House, but the Senate Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts removed that threshold and sent the bill for further review to the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. This committee has “expertise in addressing insurance limits,” according to the VAI, and in April it increased the liability limit to $20 million.
The VAI highlighted the damage that the bill would cause to air tour operators “in productive dialogue with Hawaii state legislators to address the vertical aviation industry’s concerns about the bill,” the association said, “emphasizing the potential financial burden and regulatory conflicts the bill posed.” Two key issues were “the impracticality of obtaining the specified insurance coverage at a reasonable cost and the risk of violating FAA grant assurances, potentially jeopardizing Hawaii’s federal funding for airport improvement programs.”