Solomon Airlines suspends ops

[Rowan McKeever]

CH-Aviation claims Solomon Airlines has suspended operations until further notice.

http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/46879-solomon-airlines-suspends-operations

The airline's facebook page announced a new route just yesterday, so unclear where CH-Aviation got its information.

Until only a few weeks ago the airline's sole A320 was in scheduled maintenance which took several weeks longer than planned, with QF B738s operating in its place. I wonder, if they have indeed suspended operations, whether QF will step in again now?

[David Knudsen]

From http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/305841/new-ceo-sought-for-solomon-airlines

New CEO sought for Solomon Airlines

The Solomon Islands government says Solomon Airlines CEO Ron Sumsum is to blame for the airline's perilous financial situation and it says it is looking for a new chief.

The state-owned airline shutdown its operations on Tuesday, grounding all its planes and suspending ground services. Captain Sumsum earlier said the shutdown was due to the the government's failure to pay millions of dollars in arrears.

A statement from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury said the government considers Captain Sumsum's unilateral action irresponsible and said he had jeapardised the airline's reputation. It said the government had met all its financial commitments to the airline and had written off many bad debts and injected capital over the years. It said it was working to finalise the recruitment of a new CEO and expected flights to resume within the next 24 hours.

"Government is taking steps to address the current situation with Solomon Airlines. Government is also working closely with Civil Aviation Authority and the newly appointed board of directors to finalize the recruitment of a new CEO for Solomon Airlines," said the statement.

"Government advises the general public that the current situation under which services for domestic and international are halted should be resolved, with flights resuming, within the next 24 hours."

[Rowan McKeever]

The CH-Aviation article claims one of the airline's Dash 8s is still in CNS having undergone maintenance there and with payment outstanding for said maintenance.

[Greg Hyde]

Solomon Airlines has suspended operations due to a dispute with the island nation’s government over millions of dollars of unpaid money.

All flights were grounded at 0800 (local time) on Tuesday until further notice, Solomon Island said in a statement, with the airline’s ground handling work also included as part the shutdown.

Solomon Airlines chief executive Captain Ron Sumsum said the move to suspend operations was not taken lightly and apologised for any inconvenienced caused to all affected.

“This decision also affects services operated by us to our codeshare partners and services provided to all other airlines in our capacity as ground handling agents,” Captain Sumsum said.

“I am confident the Solomon Islands’ Government will address the situation in a very short time.”

Solomon Airlines flies to Brisbane from its Honiara hub. It previously also operated to Sydney, but those flights have been temporarily suspended since the middle of May.

Solomon Airlines general manager of operations and commercial Gus Kraus said the government had failed to honour its agreement to support the national flag carrier by matching the airline’s own investment.

“We believe the government owes us somewhere between 15 and 18 million at the moment,” Kraus told Radio New Zealand.

“If they paid up those arrears we can slowly work towards seeking some respite and buying us time for the government to consider some stakeholder capital to be re-injected into the company.”

Further, Kraus said the airline has been unable to pick up its Dash 8 turboprop that had been sitting in Cairns since March after undergoing routine maintenance checks with Hawker Pacific because there were not enough funds to pay the bill.

“We are operating under financial duress,” Kraus said.

“If we don’t address the financial duress, it will become a safety issue.”

Solomon Islands permanent secretary of the ministry of aviation Moses Virivolomo described the shutdown as “operational issues with the airline itself”.

“We are trying to resolve that as soon as possible,” Virivolomo said.

http://australianaviation.com.au/2016/06/solomon-airlines-grounds-operations-in-response-to-dispute-with-government/

[lloyd fox]

IE700 just about to land BNE.I believe all has been sorted?

[Shaal L]

that was quick

http://www.flysolomons.com/news/general/solomon-airlines-resumes-all-service

[Rowan McKeever]

Hell of a way to make your point Mr CEO!

[Greg McDonald]

Yeah...what CEO in their right mind would shut down an airline just to make a point :-)

[Andrew P]

never occur!!

[Michael Cleary]

Yeah...what CEO in their right mind would shut down an airline just to make a point :-)

I seem to remember a certain CEO of Qantas doing just that a few years ago. He survived.