SOLOMON Airlines new management may have misled the traveling public about the fate of its Dash 8 aircraft, which has been grounded for the past three weeks due to engine problem.

New Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Brett Gerbers announced last week that the aircraft would be back in service early this week, emphasising safety of the traveling public comes first.

“Safety comes first in any airline, if there is doubt about it we will ground the aircrafts to undergo servicing until such time we are satisfied with, because people’s lives are very important.

“The Dash 8 is still down at the moment but all other four aircrafts which include one islander and three twin otters are in operation as we speak,” Mr Gerbers said last week.

Many are of the view that the spare parts needed for the engine were already in Brisbane and would be airlifted to Honiara shortly.

“We expect the dash 8 back in operation by early next [this] week,” the Airlines’ new human resources manager, Bill Tyson adds.

This paper learnt yesterday (Monday) however that the engine was still sitting in the United States because Solomon Airlines has not paid the deposit on the lease of the engine.

An upfront payment is required before the engine, being leased to Solomon Airlines, leaves the United States.

Depending on when Solomon Airlines paid the deposit, it could take another two to three weeks before the engine is flown here from Brisbane.

One other problem being faced by Solomon Islands is that the engine cannot be flown on normal passenger run. It has to be freighted on a cargo plane.

“Given that RAMSI’s cargo run is no longer frequent, there could be a problem getting the engine up here,” one insider said.