Management changes are in progress at three flag carriers in the South Pacific, with new teams in Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
At Samoa's Polynesian Airlines, John Fitzgerald has replaced Richard Gates as chief executive. Gates came to Polynesian in 1994 when the government-owned airline was on the brink of bankrupting both itself and Samoa. He stabilised Polynesian and cut growth to a sustainable level. Gates returned to New Zealand in January.
Fitzgerald headed Polynesian's finance and administration under Gates. Fatu Tielu, deputy general manager of finance for Samoa's Public Service Commission, assumes Fitzgerald's post.
Solomon Airlines has made an offer for a new managing director to replace Gidian Zoloveke, who left in December. It hopes to recruit Bill Meeke, chief executive of Skywest, a Western Australia regional airline.
Air Niugini's search continues to replace managing director Peter Roberts, who left a year ago. During May, Air Niugini's fortunes improved when Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) extended its foreign license for six months.
CASA says Papua New Guinea's civil aviation agency has made enough progress to justify the extension. Earlier this year, it threatened to bar all New Guinea carriers from Australia because of lax oversight.
Source: Airline Business
