STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1427

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.R. No. 221

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.R. No. 221 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO REVIEW, REVISE, AND UPDATE PLANS FOR THE DANIEL K. INOUYE HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE PANDEMICS, PRIORITIZE USER EXPERIENCES, ESTABLISH A HAWAII SENSE OF PLACE, INCORPORATE GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS, AND MODERNIZE HAWAII'S LARGEST AIRPORT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Transportation to review, revise, and update plans for the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii State Energy Office.

Your Committee finds that the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) is Hawaii's busiest airport. Unfortunately, over the years HNL has been periodically redesigned or renovated in piecemeal manner and without the benefit of an overarching master plan. This has resulted in a patchwork of different architectural styles, functional designs, and an overall layout that is unintuitive, inefficient, and doesn't best reflect a gateway to Hawaii. These problems are evidenced by the J.D. Power 2019 North America Airport Satisfaction Study ranking HNL as the second worst large airport in North America for customer satisfaction.

Your Committee also finds that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic and resulting reduction in air travel has caused airports around the globe to pause and rethink how airports can optimally function with the prospect of future pandemics or other events that may cause a diminution of air travel. This measure requests the Department of Transportation to take this opportunity to review, revise, and update the plans for HNL so that it can be a better experience for residents and visitors as well as position HNL to handle catastrophic events in the future.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Correcting the name of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport;

(2) Adding updated passenger counts for 2020;

(3) Inserting consideration for additional revenue generation from entertainment and other innovative experiences;

(4) Acknowledging that other major airports are similarly rethinking their future plans in light of the COVID-19 pandemic; and

(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 221, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 221, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

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CHRIS LEE, Chair