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Nearly 800 Maui County residents work in another county and 70 percent of the county's industry needs, which include machinery, apparel, seafood and plastics, are met by imports, the highest percentage in the state, according to Hawaiian Airlines 90th Anniversary Economic Impact Report released Thursday.
In total, nearly 3,000 Hawaii residents do not reside in the county of their employment. On Maui, 775 residents are employed outside the county, as compared to 1,012 Oahu residents, 217 Kauai residents and 977 on Hawaii island, according to the report that cites U.S. Census Bureau data from 2011 to 2015.
Further breakdown of Maui County commuters indicates that of that 775 total, 61 are employed on Hawaii island, 617 on Oahu and 97 on Kauai.
Hawaiian Airlines may not be the mode of transportation for all work commuters but the airline said in its report that it is the primary provider of interisland passenger seats for the Hawaiian Islands with its main competitor being Mokulele Air.
The report does not mention Southwest Airlines, which had its inaugural flight from the Mainland to Honolulu on March 17 and began interisland service on April 28.
According to the report, it is estimated that 39 percent of total interisland passengers who flew on Hawaiian Airlines in 2018 were Hawaii residents.
The report comes as the airlines celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. The airline commissioned ICF, a global consulting services company with specialized expertise in aviation and other industries, to put together the report of the airline's impacts on the state.
Hawaiian Airlines, the largest airline in Hawaii, has 7,300 employees, with more than 6,600 who live in-state. The airlines' parent company, Hawaiian Holdings Inc., had $2.84 billion in revenue in 2018, the report said.
The report notes that 48.4 percent of industry demands made by Hawaii business are imported. Top imports in terms of tons imported by air to Hawaii include industrial machinery, electrical machinery, apparel, seafood and plastics.
Maui has the highest demand with 70 percent, followed by Kauai at 61 percent, Hawaii island at 60 percent and Oahu at 50 percent, according to the report that cited EMSI's extrapolation of data provided by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Research and Statistics Office.
The report said that the majority of cargo comes to the state via ship rather than air, although perishable items or those of high value that require "speed and efficiency" of air transport are flown in.
Hawaiian Airlines said it exports 500 tons of cargo from Hawaii to the Mainland each week and it imports 765 tons of cargo from the Mainland each week.
The airline transports more than 230 tons of cargo between the islands of Hawaii weekly, with a total annual value of $62.5 million, the report said.
The report can be found in the airline news release at newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/releases/hawaiian-airlines-is-an-economic-driver-of-hawaii.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.