Today is your final chance to shape what Hawaii’s skies will sound like. The FAA closes public comments tonight on Blue Hawaiian Helicopters’ bid to fly below the 1,500-foot minimum that has long governed commercial tours. After that, the decision making moves behind closed doors.
This isn’t just a technical tweak. It’s about whether Hawaii keeps its quiet cliffs, valleys, and neighborhoods, or whether the buzz of helicopters becomes louder – and the islands’ new soundtrack. The request spans Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Hawaii Island, and Kauai. However the FAA rules, the impact will be felt for years.
Lower flights, louder islands.
Blue Hawaiian says flying lower would make tours safer, letting pilots maneuver more easily through ridges and valleys, and giving passengers closer views. They point to modern avionics and improved training as reasons to revise a rule that has been in place for decades.
For those under or near the flight paths, it sounds very different. Lower altitude means louder skies. Helicopter noise doesn’t just drift overhead. In Hawaii’s canyons and neighborhoods, it bounces around and hangs on. On Kauai, Kokee hikers talk about 25 flights an hour, sometimes with multiple ones in the air at once. On Oahu, Kailua families say the rumble goes on ten hours a day, day after day.
We can remember hiking the difficult Awawapuhi Trail at Kokee and looking forward to the reward at the end: a spectacular view away from civilization with peace and quiet. Instead, we had the roar of helicopters above us which spoiled the tranquility we worked so hard to reach.
What residents and visitors told us.
Back in March, when we first reported on this proposal, you filled the comment section with experiences that show the real trade-offs.
Anne wrote that the noise in residential areas disrupts the otherwise tranquility we all want to experience. Kelly on Oahu said her family hears helicopters every few minutes, ten hours a day, seven days a week, and asked how much is too much. Lei described camping in Kokee and not being able to hear the birds over the drone of blades.
Visitors shared the same frustration. One wrote that Kalalau Valley sometimes feels like a war zone. Another recalled being buzzed by a helicopter while crossing a washed-out cliff trail, the noise turning an already dangerous crossing into a more stressful one.
Others made the case for keeping tours. Ron told us he took his father on a helicopter ride when hiking was no longer possible, and called it the highlight of his life. Some readers have asked about compromises, such as quiet hours or days, or no-fly zones in sensitive areas.
The safety record that won’t go away.
Helicopter tours remain among the riskiest forms of commercial aviation. The 2019 Safari crash on the Napali Coast killed seven. Other tragedies have followed. Hawaii’s weather changes quickly, with microclimates that can turn clear air into cloud in minutes.
Supporters of lower flight levels say it gives pilots a better margin for maneuvering. Critics say it does the opposite, pushing them closer to terrain when the weather closes in.
Cindy, one of our readers, put it bluntly: “Hawaii’s mountains and weather can humble anyone who treats them casually. That reality doesn’t disappear because an aircraft has better electronics.”
The cost of Hawaii helicopter noise.
Helicopter tours bring jobs and thrill visitors who may never be able to hike or boat into valleys and cliffs. However, the same tours alter the feel of the islands in ways that extend far beyond any single trail or neighborhood.
On Hawaii Island, flights circle Kilauea whenever conditions allow, filling what should be a place of natural wonder with the steady grind of rotors. Over Molokai and Maui, helicopters sweep along coastlines and valleys that were once defined by stillness.
Wildlife feels it too. Tropicbirds and shearwaters rely on cliff ledges for nesting, and constant noise disrupts their patterns. Visitors who come looking for quiet also notice. Instead of surf or birdsong, many hear engines in places once promised as escapes.
When the state refers to “higher-quality tourism,” it typically means higher spending. But higher quality should also mean holding on to the quiet that makes Hawaii, Hawaii. Noise is not a minor detail. It is the line between a sacred valley and an amusement park.
How to make your voice heard.
Today, September 8, 2025, is the last day to comment by 11:59 EDT.
For your input on Kauai, go to https://www.regulations.gov/document/FAA-2025-0301-0001.
To comment on the other islands, your link is https://www.regulations.gov/document/FAA-2025-0301-0308.
No matter how you feel, the important thing is to add your voice before the window closes tonight.
What happens next?
After the comment period closes, the FAA will go through the submissions and then decide whether to grant Blue Hawaiian’s request. That ruling could take months. If approved, expect louder skies across the islands and new questions about how any rules would actually be enforced.
If denied, expect the industry to regroup and try again. However it turns out, what happens today will set the tone for how visitors and residents experience Hawaii for years to come.
The larger choice.
Hawaii is still wrestling with what kind of tourism future it wants. This is just another aspect of that. The state talks about fewer visitors who spend more.
Should quieter skies be part of that vision or not? And does lowering the helicopter altitude floor really move things in the right direction?
One thing’s for sure, once any remaining quiet is gone, it doesn’t come back easily.
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I’ve lived on the island of Oahu my entire, life born and raised here. I gotta say thats its bad enough of military helicopters fly over residential areas shaking the walls as they fly over head. Alot of times in groups. Now we want to have helicopters carrying tourists fly lower making the it louder is not a good idea. Not only that its also an accident waiting to happen. Don’t want my livingroom crash in by a helicopter someday. Anyway thats what I think and feel about this.
Too bad I missed the deadline. However, let me add my vote against allowing lower limits for flights. The argument against lowering the limit based on higher noise levels on the ground is true. And I’m not sure how lowering the limit will improve safety. I would expect the opposite.
Blue Hawaiian’s proposal is a step backwards. The national parks recognize the impact of aircraft frequency and noise resulting in restriction of overflight and proximity. In the 1980’s Maui County mayor Tavares created a committee in response to complaints about helicopter noise and frequency. The operators were instructed to govern themselves or be subject to county imposed regulation. That Blue Hawaiian’s current ownership and leadership was not present at that time does not excuse their ignorance. Using “safety” to sell their proposal through the FAA is more than a stretch.
I oppose efforts to eliminate helicopter tours on Kauaʻi. Hawaii air tours already meet SFAR-71’s 1,500-foot minimum unless the FAA authorizes a deviation with documented safety mitigations. The FAA has strengthened oversight with new weather cameras on Kauaʻi and updated guidance to keep flights in legal visual conditions. Tours are a high-value, light-footprint way to experience the Nāpali Coast without jamming roads and trailheads, and they sustain the skilled rotorcraft capacity that also supports utility, conservation, and emergency work island-wide.
Keep the 1,500-foot baseline, use flight-track and noise data to refine routes and times, incentivize quieter technology, and reject blunt bans that would harm Kauaʻi’s economy and community.
We already deal with tourism on a daily basis: stores have long lines, traffic is ever increasing, and prices climb higher to “tax tourism” but locals feel it too. Our home sanctuaries and hiking in remote areas are our only escapes. Kalalau is less majestic with the constant ins and outs of helicopters. We need to have peaceful areas and limit the places they go, the hours, the days, and how low they can fly. Let’s at least put a stop to this lower flying because I doubt other limits will ever go into place. Help save our sanity.
I don’t know where to vote but my answer would be a big No-do not allow them to fly lower or at all. The incidents of crashing is already higher than normal. The noise is deafening for people and animals. Why make Hawaiian people dislike the privileged tourists more by allowing these planes to fly closer to the ground.
My answer would be a big No-do not allow them to fly lower. The incident of crashing is high therefore why subject the people below with more than what they deal with now. The noise is deafening resulting in annoying people and scaring animals. No need for these tours.
Mahalo editors for the heads up. Just put in my two cents worth of a big No! Another example of relatively clear skies for locals vs helicopter companies. They, the helicopter people on and off do not hear or see how this effects local life or hikers to enjoy the silence- one of Koke’e’s unsung qualities. The silence is golden, when you can hear it
Other than the commercial passenger jets and inevitable military fights, the only thing that should be permitted to fly over the islands is a magic carpet.
Dropping the height limit takes our privacy away even more. We already have them flying over all day long. Now they want to invade more of our privacy. My property, animals and myself are not here for their entertainment! Not to mention the noise that it will create and scare our animals. Some of us make a living off our land and this will hinder our livelihood.
That’s not nice at all.
Ban them outright. Helicopter tours for the rich and privileged exist at the cost of everyone else’s peace and tranquility.
You don’t have to be rich or privileged to get on one of those. Some not-rich-at-all and underprivileged spend more on a pair of Jordans. It’s about preserving the tranquility and beauty of our skies.