#Pete buttigieg

The US Department of Transportation has given Alaska Airlines permission to close on its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, after the carriers agreed to maintain key Hawaii routes and adopt consumer protections. This exemption allows the carriers, which are respectively the fifth and tenth largest domestic airlines, to finalize their merger while maintaining separate operations until DOT rules on their transfer application.

Mauiʻs Kahului Airport (OGG) will receive $14.3 million in AIP supplemental grant funds for apron light replacement for enhanced safety. Itʻs one of four airport projects identified in Hawaiʻi to improve operations.

The Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole on Hawaiʻi Island is the recipient of $49.6 million in grant funding from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration. The funds will be used to rehabilitate Runway 17/35 to enhance safety at the facility.

A federal grant of $25,000,000 has been secured for the Līloa Drive extension in Kīhei on Maui as part of Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda. The project will extend Līloa Drive by 2,900 lineal feet and notes the addition of two more roundabouts to the South Maui community.

The Federal Aviation Administration will award $10 million in competitive grant funding — drawn from the landmark $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Package — to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.

Gov. David Ige participated in the National Governors’ Association’s virtual Winter Meeting this week, to discuss efforts to end the COVID-19 public health crisis and debate ways to ensure a strong and equitable economic recovery.