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Posted: Thursday, August 26th, 2004 5:29 AM HST

Pacific Wings drops attempt to launch service in American Samoa

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ Citing lack of support, Maui-based Pacific Wings has withdrawn its application for a federal exemption that would allow it to start offering flights within American Samoa. The airline in June applied for an exemption to operate the flights, but in an August 18th-dated letter to the Federal Aviation Administration said it wanted to withdraw the request. Airline attorney Gregory Walden wrote that support for the exemption request, whether from the territorial or U-S governments or the general public, did not materialize as they had hoped or expected. Pacific Wings president Greg Kahlstorf says he was surprised that no comments were submitted to the U-S Department of Transportation. He says without a clear expression of support from the community or its leaders, it made no sense to move forward. Pacific Wings could refile the application, but Kahlstorf says the company now plans to concentrate on its Hawaii business by hiring additional employees and purchasing additional aircraft. American Samoa is a U-S territory about 23-hundred miles south of Hawaii. (Copyright 2004 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)