Governor Linda Lingle will not use her emergency powers to try and restore some of the state’s inter-island air cargo capacity that was lost after Aloha Airlines abruptly ceased cargo operations on Monday. It’s estimated Aloha handled as much as 85 percent of all goods flown between Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.

“I'm not considering any emergency proclamation at this time,” Lingle told reporters Tuesday, after addressing military leaders at Camp Smith. “While I think there will be some short term disruption (to air cargo)…I think over the near (to) medium term people will come in to take up that slack.”

The demise of the Aloha’s cargo division came after the company’s main financer, GMAC, refused to put up more collateral during bankruptcy proceedings and two potential buyers pulled their bids. Aloha shutdown its passenger service March 31.

While Lingle said she is reluctant to intervene, she used the shutdown of Aloha’s cargo division as an opportunity to rail against a bill passed by lawmakers that would limit her emergency powers.


“The legislature has a bill pending to eliminate in some cases or severely reduce those powers for the kind of thing that can come up quickly and it can happen when they're not in session,” the governor said. “That's why we fought so hard and we asked them to really think through this issue of a reduction of the kind of emergency powers that governors have always had in the state.”

SB2828, SD2, HD2 passed conference committee April 14 by a vote of 18 to 3. The only votes against the bill came from republican senators Fred Hemmings, Sam Slom, and Gordon Trimble.

The legislation would limit a governor’s ability to provide disaster relief without first getting legislative approval. A governor would only be allowed to act unilaterally in the case of terrorism or enemy attack or if a natural disaster, like a tsunami, was affecting the state.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said the bill was in response to the governor’s emergency proclamation in July of ’06 that allowed the Waianae homeless shelter to be built while bypassing state codes and zoning restrictions.

“To unilaterally implement whatever you want to do and suspend laws to me is not basically the correct use of anyone's power,” Hanabusa said. “I think this is a situation of a clear issue of the equal branches of government.”

Lingle has not signaled if she will veto the bill, but said the shutdown of Aloha’s cargo service serves shows that a governor needs the ability to act quickly. “It certainly does highlight the need to have those powers should they become necessary,” Lingle said.

Andrew may be reached at apereira@khon2.com or ph. 591-4263.