National carrier, Solomon Airlines marked a new phase in enhancing the quality of its cabin service with the awarding of certificates to four flight attendants at a ceremony on Friday 15 February.
The four crew members Everlyn Siriurao, Benza Tahuirao, Primula Sipolo and Paul Boka completed four weeks of intensive training in preparation for duty onboard the Airbus A320 and eventually the new Dash8 “Megapode”.
A fifth flight attendant Doris Zinihite was unable to attend the graduation due to illness.
All five are who experienced staff of Solomon Airlines have been on ground duty in recent years. Their certification on Friday marks their return to cabin crew service.
In awarding the certificates Solomon Airlines, Chief Executive Officer, Ron Sumsum congratulated the flight attendants for their hard work.
He urged them to serve passengers to the best of their ability and to make the airline proud.
“You are the first people that passengers see when they board the plane. You have a big responsibility because you are the face of Solomon Airlines.”
Sumsum urged them to be always professional in their duties.
“Around the world, airlines spend millions on branding – to find the right fonts, the right colours - but the biggest branding tool for any airline is you.
“You are the ones that will make passengers want to come back and fly with us. You are responsible for creating that Solomon Airlines experience in your dealings with passengers.”
Solomon Airlines’ General Manager Operations and Commercial Services, Gus Kraus, said it was a special day for the airlines as this was the first round of graduates coming out of in-house training.
“The advantages of in-house training is that we have more control and we do not rely on other airlines and institutions to do our training for us.”
The in-house training of cabin crew has been made possible by the construction of a training room at the Solomon Airlines Cargo Terminal and the recruitment of Cabin Service Standards &Trainer, Harriet Taukave, a very experienced at top levels of Air Pacific for many years who took a redundancy package last year to join Solomon Airlines.
Although the four weeks of training was intensive, Taukave said the experience of participants made the training a rewarding process.
“I am proud of the outcome of the training and they are now ready to join the other cabin crew on flight service.”
The addition of the latest round of graduates takes Solomon Airlines’ cabin crew roster to 20, with five flight attendants working on each flight.
Service Delivery Manager, Mansly Usimanu, says the training means each flight attendant is multi-skilled and can work on the Airbus A320 as well as the Dash 8.
“The only difference is that in Airbus 320 we have a team of five working in the cabin whilst in the Dash 8; it’s a single flight attendant.”
With Solomon Airlines looking to increase its inflight services, the airline is planning a silverware trolley service for its business class passengers in the Airbus A320 by June.
“This was the service standard that made Solomon Airlines stand out in years gone by and this standard will be returned and will be unmatched in the Pacific,” said Kraus.
Press Release, Solomon Airlines, Honiara