Story ID: 019aAirServiceHawaii
FBO Profile: Air Service Hawaii
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: The company traces its Hawaiian roots back to 1948.
Word Count: 879
Air Service Hawaii traces its roots back to 1948 when its antecedent began as a crop-dusting service that also performed occasional piston aircraft maintenance at Honolulu (now Daniel K. Inouye International) Airport. Along the way, it offered flight training, air charter, Cessna aircraft sales, and finally FBO services, until 1967, when it incorporated under the Air Service Hawaii name. While the company has since shed most of those businesses to concentrate on FBO operations, with six locations, it is now one of the biggest service providers in the islands. The company changed hands in 2015 when it was purchased by a group of local investors led by industry veterans Mi Kosasa and Shaen Tarter.
Honolulu (HNL) remains the company’s flagship and headquarters and unlike its sister FBOs on the other islands, which rely mainly on tourist traffic, sees a steady pace through the year, with a slight bump from December through January. “Honolulu sees a lot of business traffic on the way to and from the mainland and Asia, Australia, and New Zealand,” said Tarter, who serves as company president. As such, the FBO is well equipped to perform quick turns. The service providers at HNL draw from the airport’s fuel storage which, given the island’s location as a waypoint in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is an astounding 42 million gallons of jet-A. It is distributed between the on-airport storage tanks and those on nearby Sand Island, which is connected via pipeline. The three FBOs also perform the into-plane service for all aircraft including commercial, and the airport is equipped with a hydrant fueling system. Air Service Hawaii operates four hydrant service vehicles among its ground service fleet, which also includes two 7,000-gallon and two 5,000-gallon jet fuel tankers. With its own 10,000 gallon-100LL tank, it has a pair of 1,400-gallon avgas trucks to supply piston aircraft.
The upstairs lounge at the FBO's airside terminal offers panoramic views of the airport ramp, making it an ideal vantage point for airplane watching, as well as a discrete waiting area for VIP guests. (Photo: Linda Epstein)
Yet, unsurprisingly, it’s not all trans-Pacific tech stops. As the cosmopolitan gateway to Hawaii, Honolulu also attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year for both business and pleasure, and the Air Service Hawaii facility, which dates back to the early 1980s, offers a 2,600-sq-ft two-story terminal which is split between two buildings. Guests arriving streetside enter the flight dispatch area and are then shuttled with their luggage to the airside terminal. Offering panoramic views of the ramp, it has a downstairs lobby with flight-planning area, while a comfortable VIP lounge is upstairs with shower facilities and bathrooms. Concierge, rental cars, snacks, and beverages are available as well. Those who choose to bypass the terminal entirely can enjoy rampside vehicle access.
According to Tarter, as much as 90 percent of the FBO’s jet traffic is from “overseas,” and to provide catering for those long oceanic flights, the company has a near-exclusive agreement with Pacific Inflight, which is owned by a local restaurateur. According to Kosasa, the food is so good that the passengers ask to take any leftovers home with them at the end of the flight.
The facility, which has a staff of 43, is open 24/7, with U.S. Customs clearance available on the ramp. The FBO has 40,000 sq ft of hangar space and is home to a handful of business aircraft ranging from a Global 5000 to a pair of PC-12s.
When it comes to customer service philosophy, the company believes it begins with conscientious, contented workers. “We have really tried to focus on taking care of our employees, who we trust will take care of our customers,” Tarter told AIN, “and our customers will take care of us by coming back.”
HNL itself got its start in the late 1920s as John Rodgers Airport, the then-territory’s first full aviation gateway. During the 1930s, neighboring Keehi Lagoon was dredged to provide a base to accommodate Pan Am’s legendary clippers. The displaced material was used to expand the airport, which after the attack on Pearl Harbor was taken over by the military as Naval Air Station Honolulu. In 1946, it was returned to the territory of Hawaii as one of the largest airports in the U.S. and renamed Honolulu Airport. Nearby former Barbers Point Naval Air Station later assumed the name John Rodgers Airfield in return.
With two 12,000 foot runways, HNL and by extension the FBO, can handle anything that can fly there. Air Service Hawaii regularly fuels Airbus A380s, and last year after a hurricane-ravaged Saipan, it handled 25 Antonov 124 flights carrying supplies from Hawaii.
For those seeking to avoid the throngs of Honolulu and its famous Waikiki Beach, the company also operates FBOs at Kona and Hilo on the Big Island, Lihue on Kauai, at Maui, and Lanai. Next year will start off with a bang for Air Service Hawaii as it inaugurates new facilities at Lihue and at Kona in January, the latter being the first purpose-built FBO at the airport.