Makani Kai Helicopters Staff

We have built our aerial tour business to be the very best possible by assembling the most experienced pilots and the best aircraft. We backed these with the most comprehensive maintenance program and with a total commitment to safety. Over the years, we have developed the most comfortable and efficient ground transportation system possible between the airport and Waikiki. We have constructed a modern, airy, clean and esthetically pleasing passenger terminal and shopping area to maximize passenger satisfaction.

But in truth, our most valuable asset is our people. The Schuman philosophy is to hire the most qualified individuals for the job, individuals with heart, and then strive to retain those employees by paying them well and treating them with the respect they deserve. Which explains why our employees tend to remain on the job so much longer than workers at other tour companies. We know that there’s nothing quite so confidence building for an agent as being able to deal with the same reservationists year after year, that drivers who have been making the trip into Waikiki for a decade are unlikely to get lost, that happy support personnel are more apt to do their job with passion and commitment. It is our promise to you that we will always be a family, gracious and professional, to help you do your job the best that you can.

Richard Schuman – Owner
Richard’s family has been in the transportation business in Hawaii for more than a hundred years. His great grandfather emigrated from Germany and began making carriage wheels here and then founded the Schuman Carriage Company in 1893. Richard began flying helicopters in 1992 and, four years later, he bought Makani Kai Helicopters. Richard believes in providing nothing less than the very best in customer service, a philosophy we hope you will notice when you fly with Makani Kai.

Diane Schuman – Chief Financial Officer
The former Diane Haglund was born and raised in Harrisville, Michigan. She majored in Business and Accounting at Northwood Institute (now Northwood University) in Midland, Michigan, where she met her future husband, Richard Schuman. Following graduation, she moved to Oahu in 1981 and was an accountant for an auto accessory company and then a law firm. She and Richard were married in 1984 and had their first daughter, Kaleo, in 1988. Her interests include tennis, hiking and riding her Harley Davidson.

Chuck Lanza – Manager of Operations
Chuck is Makani Kai’s manager of operations and chief safety officer. He arranges everything from charters to group movements and organizes company meetings, oversees haz mat procedures and schedules maintenance. A veteran of the helicopter tour business, Chuck started with HeliTrans in Honolulu in 1991, joined Papillion in 1992, and he’s run the show at Makani Kai since 1994. Chuck is a Black Belt in multiple martial arts disciplines and is a devotee of Japanese swords.

Cindy Makalii – Chief Reservationist
Cindy started with Makani Kai Helicopters in October of 2001, after having been a reservationist with the Rainbow Pacific Helicopters in Honolulu for four years before that. A youthful mother of five, with two grandkids, Cindy traces her Hawaiian roots back at least a half-dozen generations. Her passions include everything from sewing and beadwork to drawing and woodcarving. She’s also a genius with plants, having turned Makani Kai’s lanai area into a garden jungle. Cindy says one of the great rewards of her job is “filling a seat two hours prior to a flight…it’s an adrenaline rush.”

Rob Chiong – Reservations
Rob was born and raised in Miami and from a young age was interested in television production. His first real job was as an editor for NBC affiliate WPTV in West Palm Beach. Rob visited Hawaii in 1996, fell in love with the islands and vowed to return, but that took longer than expected. He worked as both editor and videographer in Honolulu and Los Angeles for several years before finally making the commitment to stay in Hawaii. Now he’s a happy man, working for Makani Kai and, in his spare time, DJ-ing at local clubs and parties. Rob likes to surf and is occasionally accompanied in the ocean by his 90-pound Rottweiler Murphy.

Eiki Miyasato – Pilot
Eiki was born in Okinawa and moved to Hawaii in 1972. He became a tour driver and, over the next 15 years, learned the ins and outs of Waikiki. When a friend of his started taking flying lessons in airplanes, Eiki was intrigued but decided to pursue his helicopter rating instead. After he earned his Commercial license and Instructor’s rating, he started flying tours and teaching for Hawaii International Helicopters. In 1991, he joined Makani Kai Helicopters. Today, Eiki has well over 15,000 hours of flight time and has gone on to earn his fixed-wing Private, Commercial, Instrument and Multi-Engine ratings.

Jeffrey Protacio – Pilot
Born and raised on Oahu, Jeff became smitten with flying helicopters after his parents treated him to a flight over the Grand Canyon when he was a wee lad of 12. Upon graduating from high school, Jeff joined the Army under the ROTC program and eventually made his way into flight school. He flew the military version of the venerable Bell JetRanger for a decade and then transitioned into the CH-47 Chinook. Jeff, who retired as a Lt. Colonel and now has more than 2,000 flight hours under his belt, says one of the most rewarding parts of his work with Makani Kai is meeting people from all over the world. That, and flying the Make-A-Wish children.
“Their enthusiasm is infectious,” says Jeff. In his downtime, Jeff likes to hit the beach and do some paddle boarding. He also loves to watch his son play baseball and watch his daughter dance.

Jonathan Bernath – Mechanic
Aviation was in Jonathan’s blood from an early age: he came into the world when his parents lived in Dayton, Ohio next to Wright-Patterson Air Force base. Jonathan grew up on the East Coast and spent his high school years at a boarding school onboard a tall ship, the Te Vega out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. For nine months each year, he visited far away ports while learning the finer points of rigging and sailing. Then it was off to Hong Kong for four years, where his father had taken a job. Back in the U.S., Jonathan attended Northwestern Michigan’s aviation management program and, along the way, earned his Commercial Pilot’s license and airframe and powerplant designation. He took flying jobs with Island Hoppers and Mokulele in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island and eventually wound up becoming a maintenance tech for Makani Kai. He keeps his piloting skills sharp flying for Island Air.

Dan Espiritu – Mechanic
Born and raised on the island of Oahu, Dan took an early interest in architecture and the arts and found himself involved in Castle High School’s renowned theater program. He later majored in interior design at Chaminade University and, although the work challenged his creative side, he ultimately decided that there wasn’t enough money in the field. Always mechanically inclined, Dan worked for both the BMW and Toyota/Lexus dealerships before being hired as a hangar and aircraft maintenance specialist for Barbara Cox Aviation, a post he held for 17 years until Ms. Cox passed away. Dan is now Makani Kai’s utility infielder, handling all manner of tasks with quiet expertise.

Juha Sironen – Mechanic
This native of Finland was an X-Ray and ultrasonic inspector who primarily served the welding and construction industries. His strengths include an inordinate attention to detail, a skill that served him well during the decade he spent fabricating dive suits and deep water gear. He also has a lengthy boat building background, experience that ironically helped him become part of the Makani Kai team. His specialty is refurbishing aircraft for Makani Kai’s sister company, Hawaii Aviation Services, and he recently gutted and refinished the complete interiors of two Piper Chieftains.

Val Kalaoa, Sr. – Driver
One of ten children, Val was born and raised near what are now the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. “It used to be bungalows back then,” he says, “and we’d sneak into the swimming pool out by the pier.” An ILH medalist in golf when he attended Kaimuki High School, Val recalls caddying for the likes of Ted Makalena and Francis I’i Brown. He entered the Army after high school, did his basic at Fort Ord, California, his advanced infantry training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and did a tour of Vietnam. He worked for Dole Pineapple in Iwilei for 27 years as a can manufacturing mechanic until the factory was phased out in ’96. He began driving for Makani Kai in 2003 and says the best part of his job is meeting tourists from around the world. He and his wife Charlene have 6 kids, 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Mike Stroup – Driver
Born in Darby, Pennsylvania, in 1962, Mike was in ROTC in high school and joined the Navy upon his graduation in 1980. He first saw Hawaii when he came to Pearl Harbor in January of 2000 aboard the nuclear attack submarine San Francisco. An electrician and Chief Petty Officer by training, Mike was stationed here until his retirement in 2004. He immediately began training for his helicopter license and eventually earned his Private, Commercial, Instrument and Instructor ratings. An avid cyclist, Mike frequently engages in friendly competition and will pedal around the island just for fun. He enjoys meeting the different people he brings to and from the airport and looks forward to his turn on next season’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Braun Adam – Driver
Braun was born in San Francisco and spent his young adult years in the Bay Area, attending San Mateo Community College before taking a job driving a truck for Blake Moffett & Towne Paper Company. He hauled cargo up and down the state for a dozen years before putting his mechanical prowess to good use at Rector Cadillac in Burlingame, where he spent eight years fixing GM’s finest. A Cadillac rep mentioned to Braun that the Honolulu dealership was looking for a good mechanic, so Braun came to Oahu in 1987 to work for Schuman Carriage. In 2008, Braun took his current job with Makani Kai Helicopters. This Vietnam vet has a daughter and two grandchildren.

Quinten Sherbert – Driver
Born and raised in Honolulu, Quinten is one of those guys who can tell you anything and everything about the world of telecommunications and information technology. In fact, he began installing phones and troubleshooting network systems right out of high school. Some people just have the knack, eh? Quinten currently attends Kapiolani Community College part time and is working towards his MBA. Driving on the weekends for Makani Kai is, “interesting because I meet people from all over the world and hear so many intriguing stories.”

P.J. O’Reilley – Sales and Marketing
P.J. was born in Carmel, California, and has been interested in aviation since childhood. He went to school at the University of California at Santa Cruz where he majored in Theater and Politics, which, he later discovered, turned out to be the same thing. He soloed a Cessna on his 16th birthday and started flying helicopters once he came to Hawaii. He is best known among activity agents in Waikiki as The Brownie Man because he delivers the home made treats on his visits.