With all due respect, Samoa Airways would like to clarify and correct the misleading and inaccurate
statements recently published in the media regarding the airline’s lease of a B737 aircraft and its
operational capability.
These statements were made without context, do not accurately reflect the current state of the
airline and directly and unfairly impact the airline’s highly qualified staff. Our intention is to safeguard
the reputations of the highly competent and qualified staff that are now being tarnished by these
statements.
1. Airworthiness of the aircraft
Certain statements have called into question the airworthiness of the aircraft being leased. To be
clear, this aircraft is a high spec aircraft which has undergone a complete C –Check (Heavy
maintenance inspection with full Engine overhaul). It has also undergone a full assessment by the
Samoa Airways team and a test flight was conducted prior to the aircraft departing for Brisbane,
Australia. All technical manuals are being provided by the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing.
The aircraft was issued with a Certificate of Registration and an Export Certificate of Airworthiness by
an ICAO Contracting State, which allowed it to fly to Australia. The aircraft would not have been
permitted to operate to Australia if it was not airworthy. The aircraft has never been grounded, nor
have there been any airworthiness issues with the aircraft. The aircraft is near new and had been in
storage prior to being leased by Samoa Airways. Samoa Airways has been working with PASO
(Pacific Aviation Safety Office), to ensure compliance with all Civil Aviation Rules. PASO has already
made an assessment and recommended that a Certificate of Registration be issued by Samoa some
time ago. The remaining assessment is for the issue of a Samoa Certificate of Airworthiness, which has
been delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions in Australia. We are currently liaising with PASO and the
Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia and are confident that this will be completed shortly.
We were alarmed by the persistent dissemination of incomplete or inaccurate information pertaining
to the airworthiness of the aircraft. Such statements are damaging to the reputation of the airline, the
shareholder as well as the whole civil aviation system in Samoa. We have already fielded queries
from our international service providers because of these statements and are concerned that lessors
and our international partners may think twice before dealing with Samoa in future.

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2. Qualifications of the Samoa Airways Team (Pilots/ Engineers)
Certain statements have cast doubt on the qualifications and operational capability of Samoa
Airways technical staff.
We state unequivocally that the team of technical staff at Samoa Airways is amongst the most
qualified and experienced in the Pacific.
Samoa Airways employs Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (LAMEs) that are type-rated
(qualified) on the B737-800NG and B737MAX aircraft types. Our LAMEs hold approvals to carry out
maintenance and certify the airworthiness of Fiji Airways’ Boeing 737-800 NG and Boeing 737 MAX
aircraft and provide engineering support to various aircraft that transit through Faleolo. In
preparation for the introduction of the Samoa Airways B737-800 aircraft, the Engineering team has
completed procedural training through our maintenance partner, Heston MRO and will continually
be subject to recurrent and refresher training as required by the regulations.
Our pilots are highly qualified and experienced. They are all subject to a rigorous training program
and undergo a competency assessment every six months. They have all displayed a high level of
proficiency and professionalism. Many have worked for major airlines such as Emirates, Fiji Airways,
and Virgin Australia operating aircraft types such as B777, B787, B767, B737 etc. Some have spurned
higher salaries elsewhere to offer their services and fly for the national carrier.
Questioning the competency of our technical team is unfair and unjustified. Our people have
undertaken years of training and have demonstrated a high level of proficiency in their fields. They
operate in a dynamic, high-stress environment and are not deserving of these statements and
insinuations. Our people all hold internationally recognized qualifications and are consummate
professionals.
The constant barrage of misleading information has been damaging to the shareholder, the nation
and Samoa Airways. Samoa Airways has, to this point, refrained from commenting in the hope that
the misinformation in the media is corrected.
We hope this Press Release clears up any further misunderstanding regarding the aircrafts
airworthiness and our personnel’s qualifications.
Fa’afetai tele lava.
Samoa Airways Team