Anne Montgomery

I recently read an article titled “Staycationing in Paradise” (Sept. 18–24) promoting travel within the state of Hawai‘i. My bigger concern is the lack of anybody doing anything regarding the hugely disproportionate rise in airfares from the Mainland to Hawai‘i vs. within the Mainland. Can’t the state do anything to change this? The cost of airfare to California from Hawai‘i is about $800, give or take a few dollars, depending on the period of travel. The cost to travel the same distance from California to the East Coast is approximately half that. This state is going to “die” if something isn’t done soon. Tourism has already dropped a considerable amount, and with our current economic crisis, it may only get worse. The federal government is bailing out everybody else, why can’t they help us? We need travelers to Hawai‘i, not residents traveling from island to island.

Anne Montgomery
Kihei