If you want foreign expertise with the right calibre, you have to pay market related foreign salaries.
Fiji Airways CEO Andre Viljoen said this in response to questions about his salary.
He was recruited by the former government in 2015 to join Fiji Airways as managing director and CEO.
Prior to this, he was CEO for Air Mauritius, South African Airways, tour operator group Cullinan Holdings among other reputable airlines.
“Obviously, that’s confidential,” he told The Fiji Times‘ online news portal, The Lens@177.
“All I would say is, if you want foreign expertise with the right calibre, you have to pay market related foreign salaries.
“I’ve seen all this discussion around salaries paid and my argument is, if people have the expertise and the calibre and you want to retain people in the country, locals, you’re going to have to pay, or you’re going to lose them all international, which is what we’ve seen, the brain drain going on in the country.”
Mr Viljoen said if he had a dream salary, he would also disclose it.
This, after he was told the salaries of Qantas and Air New Zealand CEOs were public knowledge.
