Kalaupapa residents and employees say they're bearing the brunt — with dramatically higher airfares — of a dispute between the the state Department of Transportation and the only commercial air carrier that serves the Moloka'i settlement.

"We're stuck," said resident Gloria Marks, who called new $492 roundtrip airfares for a 10-minute flight from Kalaupapa to Kaunakakai outrageous. She said the situation is angering Kalaupapa's 19 Hansen's disease patients and 100 or so employees, who are limiting or forgoing travel.

The airfare increase comes as Pacific Wings and the state duke it out in the latest of a string of disagreements.

The new dispute stems from a July 7 confrontation between carrier employees and contracted airport security guards attempting to deliver citations for a June fuel spill. Pacific Wings alleges the confrontation ended with one of its female employees suffering a bruise during a scuffle with the guards. The state says the woman was bruised when she hit her leg on a desk.

Following the incident, Pacific Wings briefly suspended operations.

When it resumed, it had pruned back its services, automated operations and increased fares.

The new roundtrip fare to Honolulu is $499. Roundtrip fares to Kalaupapa were about $200 before being raised on Friday. They were as low as $60 in 2007.

Marks, who operates Damien Tours, said the higher fares have also hurt tourism to Kalaupapa.

The settlement gets between 50 and 100 visitors monthly.

This month alone, Marks said, she's seen 10 cancellations from visitors because of the higher airfares. She said the cancellations are coming as interest in visiting Kalaupapa grows, with the canonization of Father Damien three months away.

"It's too ridiculous," she said. "They think we're millionaires."

Pacific Wings Chief Executive Officer Greg Kahlstorf countered that charges of price gouging aren't fair. He said he had been subsidizing flights to Kalaupapa out of his own pocket, but decided to stop the practice because of the ongoing dispute with the state Department of Transportation and what he describes as maltreatment of his airline and its employees.

"There's absolutely no incentive to do it anymore," he said.

He pointed out that charter flights from Kalaupapa are running from $300 to $500 per person roundtrip.

And he said essential air service carriers on the Mainland ask comparable prices.

"Nobody is forced to live in Kalaupapa. If you choose to live and work in a place that's so remote ... why would you really expect the cost of travel to be given below market?" Kahlstorf said, adding that Kalaupapa residents are being used as "cheap props" by the state to make the carrier look bad.

He said Kalaupapa patients aren't missing medical appointments because of the fare increases, since those tickets are covered by the state Health Department. Essential travel for state workers is also covered, though their commutes are not. Many of those who work in Kalaupapa live elsewhere and go home on weekends.

MANY CAN'T HIKE OUT

The only way in or out of Kalaupapa is by plane — or on foot or by mule on a trail that takes one to two hours.

The hike is not an option for everyone, especially Kalaupapa's patients, many of whom are in wheelchairs.

Tim Richmond, acting administrator of the settlement for the Health Department, said workers are increasingly choosing to hike out for the weekends or not go home. Patients, meanwhile, are curtailing travel to see family, or their relatives aren't able to see them. This week, Richmond responded to a flurry of angry e-mail messages being exchanged between Kahlstorf and state DOT Executive Director Brennon Morioka — and copied to dozens of people — to urge the parties to come to a resolution.

"I was frustrated. It's bickering back and forth," Richmond said yesterday.

He added that he has cut back on his own travel to Honolulu because of the airfare increases, even canceling doctor's appointments. And he pointed out that Kalaupapa gets only one barge shipment every year, so flying is sometimes the only way to get necessities.

"The flights are now to a point where you really can't afford it," said Richmond, who lives in Kalaupapa.

DOT SHOPS AROUND

On its Web site yesterday, Pacific Wings was selling flights from Kalaupapa to Honolulu for $499, plus tax.

Roundtrip fares from Kalaupapa to Kaunakakai were $492, plus tax.

Flights on Mokulele Airlines from Ho'olehua, Moloka'i — about six miles from Kalaupapa — to Honolulu were from $54 to $68 one-way, but getting out of the settlement still requires trekking out on foot or traveling by mule.

Morioka said he's disappointed over the Pacific Wings decision to increase airfares, and has been contacted by other air carriers interested in serving Kalaupapa.

"It's very unfortunate that the drastic decision they're making is affecting residents," he said. "We are going to be working with other airlines to see what kinds of services that they can be providing."

State Sen. J. Kalani English, D-6th (E. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i), said he hopes the issue can be resolved soon.

"I'm really hoping that some competition comes in," he said.

The latest dispute follows years of bad blood between Pacific Wings and the state.

The airline also made headlines following a confrontation in 2005 between an airport security guard and airline employees.