Fijitimes.com.fj - Tuesday, March 17, 2009
"AIR Pacific is expected to this year release 12 of the 26 expatriate pilots it has on contract.
The airline will also be cutting back on its twice weekly flights to Port Vila and Honiara at the end of this month.
Chief executive officer John Campbell has reassured none of its Fiji employees would be laid off.
Mr Campbell said reduced flights had forced the national airline to cut costs.
"We are going to reduce our number of contracted or leased pilots," he said.
"At the moment we have 26 contracted pilots," he said.
"We are working with the employment company that they come through to determine how many will be finally released. But I do expect to release half, maybe 12."
Mr Campbell said they had a good relationship with their employees and the unions.
"It's quite natural that people want a pay increase and more benefits. We understand that everybody has to live and when costs go up they want adjustments to their salaries," he said.
Air Pacific operates a twice weekly service into Honiara every Tuesday and Friday from Nadi.
The Friday service was introduced a year ago.
Mr Campbell said the decision to cut back on the flights was purely an economic one based on the conditions that had driven the market down."
