LETTER FROM OUR CEO

Cloud 9 Chairman’s Letter

Special guest contributor, Keith Sisson, co-founder and Chief of Staff

One, two, three, and FORE!

“If you can’t play well, at least be well-dressed,” Keith Sisson, Southern/Mokulele Chief of Staff

It has been another harsh winter across many of the Southern Airways cities.  Hub airports like Chicago, Washington-Dulles, Memphis, and St. Louis all experienced significant flight cancellations due to the winter weather.  Though not with snow and ice, even Hawai’i was not spared from extreme weather as the seasonal “Kona Lows” hit the island chain in January affecting hundreds of flights throughout the islands.  It is nice to be entering spring where travel can return to normal expectations, and everyone can enjoy warmer weather activities. 

 

As the co-founder of Southern Airways, I have always been quite transient when it comes to fulfilling company needs.  I first relocated to Memphis during the founding of the airline, then to Pittsburgh a for year when we opened the hub there, and ultimately to Kailua-Kona on Hawai’i Island.  

 

My family and I arrived in Kona roughly one year prior to COVID. The travel restrictions of 2020 left many of us in the airline in industry with quite a bit of time on our hands. The social distancing protocols limited most every indoor public activity.  In Hawai‘i, for the most part, outdoor activities that did not involve groups were allowed.  Since the airline had very few flights during this time and there were limited other options, I took golf lessons. I have been golfing occasionally ever since. I am still not good, but at least with the lessons, I know why my good shots are good (and I have a better understanding of why my bad shots are bad). 

 

In this edition of Cloud 9, we explore some of the best public golf courses located around the Southern Airways system.  Traveling with golf clubs is easy on the Cessna Grand Caravan (just no hard-sided travel cases).  We hope that our passengers will take the opportunity this spring to take to the sky and hit the links. Traveling for a vacation that includes golf is easy on Southern Airways: 

 

ONE: Book your trip to or from any Southern Airways/Mokulele city on iFlySouthern.com or

MokuleleAirlines.com (you can book tickets between our airports and any airport in the 

United States at the same time).

TWO: Check-in your golf clubs at your originating airport.

THREE: Collect the clubs at your final destination.

FORE!

 

I hope you enjoying flying with us this Spring, and for any golfer that may reading this, please allow me to add that I have had a hole-in-one (kind-of).  The Par 3 green was under repair and the golf course put the flag in the middle of the fairway.  My tee shot bounced off a lava rock and rolled down hill to hit the pin. I am not sure if counts, but since I couldn’t take a second stroke, I am counting it!  As my father-in-law taught me, there are not any pictures on the score card!


Keith Sisson 

Chief of Staff,

Southern Airways and Mokulele Airlines