Retired
U.S. Air Force pilot and former Senior Vice President of Virgin America David
Pflieger presently serves as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of
Air Pacific Ltd, a Fiji-based carrier that takes great pride in giving back to
local community. Mr. Pflieger joined Air Pacific in 2010 and is widely credited
with reinvigorating an enterprise that only recently suffered major profit
losses. Today, Air Pacific and its subsidiary Pacific Sun stand poised to
experience a new era of success thanks to Pflieger’s focused leadership.
Combined, the two flourishing airlines now provide jobs for more than 900
individuals, a boon to the small island nation that relies heavily on tourism
dollars for economic saliency.
With
a history dating back to 1951, Air Pacific channels considerable resources
toward a variety of philanthropic initiatives that benefit the Fijian people
and the infrastructure of the nation as a whole. Through its charity arm Wings
of Hope, a division funded by customer donations, Air Pacific has played a key
role in improving services for needy children and their families across the
country. To this end, the carrier partnered with Fiji’s Ministry of Finance and
National Planning to purchase 15-seat minivan for the Suva branch of the Fiji
Crippled Children Society. This commendable organization operates the Hilton
Special School, an academic institution founded in 1963 that educates and cares
for physically disabled and hearing-impaired youth. Maintaining a hostel for
boys and girls who reside in underserved locales as well, the Hilton Special
School depends largely on the generosity of donors like Air Pacific to sustain
scholastic and social service programs.
Aside
from its involvement with the Fiji Crippled Children Society and the Hilton
Special School, Air Pacific helped renovate Nadi Hospital’s rundown Children’s
Ward and facilitated the construction of a hostel for boys in a rural area
situated 40 minutes away from the township of Nadi.
