[§261E-10]  Transfer of certificates ofpublic convenience and necessity; carrier property; control of carriers. (a)  No Hawaii air carrier shall sell, lease, assign, mortgage, or otherwisedispose of, or encumber any certificate, in whole or in part, or any of itsproperty necessary or useful in the performance of transportation services forthe public; nor shall any Hawaii air carrier, by any means, directly orindirectly, merge or consolidate its property, certificates, or any partthereof, with any other carrier, without in each case first having secured fromthe air carrier commission an order authorizing it to do so, and every suchsale, lease, assignment, mortgage, disposition, encumbrance, merger, orconsolidation, made other than in accordance with an order of the commissionauthorizing the same, shall be void and of no effect.

(b)  No Hawaii air carrier shall purchase oracquire, take, or hold any part of the capital stock of any other commoncarrier without having been first authorized to do so by the commission.  Everyassignment or transfer of any stock by or through any person to any person, orotherwise, in violation of this section shall be void and of no effect, and nosuch transfer shall be made on the books of any air carrier.  Nothing in thissubsection shall prevent the holding of stock lawfully acquired prior to theeffective date of this chapter.

(c)  No person shall acquire control of anyHawaii air carrier without first receiving the approval of the commission.

(d)  Whenever a transaction is proposed undersubsection (a), (b), or (c), the Hawaii air carrier or carriers, or person orpersons, seeking approval shall present an application to the commission in theform prescribed by the commission.  The commission may act upon the applicationwith or without first holding a public hearing; provided that, if requested,the commission shall afford reasonable opportunity for interested parties to beheard.  If the commission finds, subject to the terms and conditions that itdetermines to be just and reasonable, that the proposed transaction will beconsistent with the public interest, the commission shall enter an orderapproving and authorizing the transaction, upon the terms and conditions andwith the modifications found to be just and reasonable.  The proponent of thetransaction within the scope of subsection (a), (b), or (c) shall have theburden of proof to establish that the transaction is consistent with the publicinterest.

(e)  Pending the determination of anapplication filed with the commission for approval of a consolidation or mergerof the properties of two or more Hawaii air carriers, or of a purchase, lease,charter, or contract to operate the properties of one or more Hawaii aircarriers, or of an acquisition of control of a Hawaii air carrier, thecommission, in its discretion and without hearings or other proceedings, maygrant temporary approval for a period not exceeding one hundred twenty days, orfor an additional period as the determination of an application may require, ofthe operation of the Hawaii air carrier properties sought to be acquired by thepersons proposing in the pending application to acquire the properties, if itappears that failure to grant this temporary approval may result in destructionof or injury to the Hawaii air carrier properties sought to be acquired orsubstantial interference with their future usefulness in the performance ofadequate and continuous service to the public.

(f)  This section shall apply to anytransaction entered into or proposed to be entered into by a related companythat is determined by the commission to have potential impact upon the relatedHawaii air carrier or its operations.  A related company shall notify thecommission of any such transaction at least sixty days prior to itsconsummation. [L Sp 2008, c 1, pt of §2]

 

Note

 

  For effective date of chapter, referenced in subsection (b),see note at beginning of chapter.