Rental Car Companies Maui, Hawaii Storing 18,000 Cars
- Rental car companies are being forced to find new homes for their vehicles as travel demand dries up from the spread of COVID-19.
- On Maui, Hawaii former sugar cane fields had been converted to parking lots to house over 18,000 cars.
- Car rental agencies across the country have been forced to send vehicles to temporary homes due to a lack of renters.
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With travel at a near-standstill as the US prepares for a surge in COVID-19 cases, companies will large fleets of now-unused vehicles are finding locations to store them until travelers feel safe enough to explore the world once again.
The past few weeks have seen unforeseen measures including airlines taking over airports for use as storage facilities for thousands of aircraft.
The rental car industry has also taken a hit as a lack of flyers means fewer renters whether it be tourists, business travelers, or even flight crews. At some rental facilities, including on the island of Maui in Hawaii, thousands of cars are sitting idle in desolate fields awaiting when travel returns to normal.
A reporter with the local newspaper Maui News Matthew Thayer, a photojournalist and author, witnessed thousands of stored cars lined up like dominoes with their bumpers mere inches apart during a helicopter flight over the island. Most of them belong to the rental car agencies that utilize Kahului Airport, one of Hawaii's busiest airports with nonstop flights to US mainland destinations as far as Chicago and Dallas.
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Take a closer look at just how devastating COVID-19 has been to the rental car industry in the US.
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