Retired pilot opens state’s 1st automated mask factory in Kona
Retirement plans for an airline pilot changed from relaxing and playing golf to manufacturing masks in Kona to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nicolas Garcia had been a United Airlines pilot for 46 years before he retired April 1. When his flight attendant fiancee, Amy, could not find any masks at the beginning of the pandemic, he found his calling, and the idea of Kona Mask Co. was born.
“At first I was making masks out of coffee filters for Amy,” he recalled.
Retired pilot opens state’s 1st automated mask factory in Kona
