David Pflieger Leaves Behind Legacy of Prosperity at Fiji Airways

Fiji Airways pic — Fiji Airways
Image: fijiairways.com

Faced with the most financially tumultuous period in its 60 year history, the Air Pacific Board of Directors and the national airline’s major shareholders, the Fijian government and Qantas, sought a skilled businessman with extensive experience in the aviation sector to return the struggling airline to profitability. They found this individual in David Pflieger, a former attorney, pilot, and business leader who advanced from the law, safety, and flight operations departments of Delta Air Lines to serve as a founding officer and senior vice president at Virgin America.

Drawing on knowledge garnered over the course of more than two decades in the aviation industry, Mr. Pflieger orchestrated the complete turnaround and revitalization of Air Pacific, including its rebranding to Fiji Airways. While the company’s previous two years of operations had yielded operating losses in excess of $100 million, the new CEO managed to achieve an annual profit of $16 million in just two years.

One of the many elements of Fiji Airways’ extensive turnaround and rebranding was the expansion of its existing fleet. In 2013, Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama attended the maiden flight of the airline’s new Airbus A330-200s aircraft in Toulouse, France, marking a moment of great pride for the national carrier and the country as a whole.

After guiding the successful turnaround of Fiji Airways, David Pflieger opted not to renew his CEO contract when it concluded, so he could return to his family in the United States. Mr. Pflieger agreed, however, to remain on the Board of Fiji Airways and to help the airline search for a new leader who could carry on his legacy of success. In late 2013, with the airline completely fixed and revitalized, the Board and Mr. Pflieger appointed Stefan Pichler, formerly the CEO of Jazeera Airways, to the position of managing director and chief executive officer of Fiji Airways. Mr. Pichler had the honor of announcing how successful the airline turnaround he inherited had been when it declared record profits and profit sharing for all employees–all of which was due to three years of hard work, focus, and dedication by the team at Fiji Airways.

Author: David Pflieger

David Pflieger is working as the CEO of Ravn Alaska. David received his pilot training in the United States Air Force, and has since held multiple positions with different airlines, for over 20 years! View all posts by David Pflieger

About

David Pflieger is an accomplished CEO, attorney, commercial and military pilot who began his career as an officer in the U.S. Air Force following his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. Dave currently serves as President and CEO of Ravn Air Group.

David Pflieger’s extensive experience as a senior executive includes previous CEO roles at three different companies which he successfully restructured, turned around, and recapitalized, sold, or led to record-breaking profits. Most recently, David Pflieger was the President and CEO of Hawaii Island Air where he worked directly for Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, and successfully sold the airline to local Hawaii investors after fixing it. Prior to that role, Dave was the CEO of privately owned Silver Airways which he successfully turned around, launched as an independent carrier, and recapitalized. This role came after Dave’s remarkable tenure as the Managing Director and CEO of Fiji Airways, the national airline of Fiji. There, he took an airline from record-breaking losses to one that in just three years achieved record profits—profits which continue to grow to this day. In addition to his various CEO roles, David Pflieger also served as the Vice President of Operations and as a B767/B757 Captain for a $1.2 billion airline that operated thirty-six B757 aircraft and carried 7 million passengers annually. Dave was also the Director of Flight Safety for Delta Air Lines where he helped the airline achieve one of its safest years of operation.

Before he led businesses, David Pflieger was the General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Legal & Government Affairs at Virgin America. At Virgin, Dave not only led all legal, political, regulatory, and public relations efforts that allowed the airline to be granted U.S. government certification—despite extremely heavy opposition from almost every major U.S. airline, he also worked closely with the Board and Shareholders to later restructure the company and raise additional capital from its private equity and hedge fund investors. Dave was also an A320 Captain, and he piloted the airline’s inaugural flight from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco.

At Delta, David Pflieger was the company’s chief operations attorney responsible for handling everything from major aircraft accidents (Swiss Air 111—a Delta codeshare flight) to FAA and DOT litigation, in addition to flying as a B737 pilot.

Before joining Delta, David Pflieger was a lawyer for King & Spalding, a top 50 U.S. law firm, where he advised clients and assisted with trial preparation and other matters in the firm’s Litigation, Intellectual Property, and White Collar Crime practice groups. Prior to entering private practice, Dave also worked for a U.S. District Court Judge and a Georgia Supreme Court Justice.

Before entering the airline industry, David Pflieger was an officer and command pilot in the U.S. Air Force where he was promoted well ahead of his peers to be a B-52 Aircraft Commander, Instructor Pilot, and Executive Officer. As a strategic bomber pilot, Dave was responsible for commanding and training air crews engaged in nuclear weapons alert, conventional bombing, and cruise missile missions.