Four Singhs, One Airline: Fiji Airways at 75

For one family, Fiji Airways’ 75-year history is a story of four careers, shared sacrifice and life in aviation.

Behind the milestone are the people who have carried it there, and few families know that better than the Singhs. Four members of one household have spent close to 90 years working for the airline, through its years as Fiji Air, Air Pacific and Fiji Airways.

A dream takes flight

For Sharmila Singh, it began at an accounting firm. She had hoped to become a teacher, but visiting cabin crew caught her eye, and her curiosity grew. In February 1992 she put on the Air Pacific uniform for the first time.

“Wearing the uniform for the first time made me feel proud, nervous, excited. You walk taller, feel a sudden rush of responsibility and realise that your dreams are finally real,” she shared. She is now a Purser.

Her husband, Captain Satpreet Singh, looked skyward earlier. He grew up in Wailailai, Ba, where his parents, who had migrated from Punjab, India in late 1950s, taught at Khalsa College. They lived in the teachers’ quarters among the sugarcane fields.

“Any time an aircraft flies up in the sky, my head would automatically turn up to the skies. There was just that fascination,” he recalled.

Money was tight when he told his family he wanted to fly, yet they found a way. His father gave what savings he could. His mother surrendered her life insurance policy and took out a loan. His sister borrowed, while his brother gave him a place to stay in Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand. At flying school, Satpreet cleaned and refuelled aircraft, scrubbed offices and lavatories, and worked at a kitchen and bathroom showroom to pay his way.

“Whatever the odds are, you go for your dreams. You have to take that first step and go towards it. Your dream is not going to come to you, you have to go to it,” he explained. Satpreet joined Fiji Air in 1991, flying small aircraft from Nausori Airport outside Suva, and moved to Air Pacific in 1999 as a Boeing 737 First Officer. He became a Captain in 2007 and is now 35 years into his commercial flying career. “It’s the passion of flying, it’s the passion for Fiji Airways, it’s a passion for Fiji.”

Following their parents into aviation

Sharmila and Satpreet raised their family around airline life, with its rosters, early starts and occasional time apart. Their two sons, Prashant and Satvikrant, grew up among pilots and cabin crew, and neither was pushed towards the industry.

“We grew up surrounded by aviation because of our parents and their colleagues, so there was always a curiosity and a natural pull towards it,” Prashant said. His mother offered advice. “She simply told me to follow my heart and to do what made me happy,” he added.

Prashant joined Fiji Airways in 2015 as a Second Officer, aged 19. Satvikrant followed in 2018, aged 20. Both are First Officers.

For Prashant, the flight deck held a childhood memory. “As a child, I used to visit my dad in the cockpit and ask him about all the switches and buttons. Before I knew it, I was flying the very same aircraft that I had once watched my dad fly.”

Sharmila has worn the uniform since 1992. Now her sons do too. “Seeing my sons in uniform was one of the proudest moments of my life. It is more than seeing them dressed as pilots, it is seeing their dreams, hard work and dedication come to life.”

Family in the air, professionals at work

At home, they are parents and sons. At work, they are a Captain, a Purser and two First Officers, with the responsibilities of any other crew member. Prashant says the switch is almost instant. “I see him as a father when we dress up at home and catch the same taxi to work, but when we enter the cockpit, I can see we switch personalities all of a sudden. He’s a Captain,” he explained.

Sharmila follows the same rule. “When we go to work, we are very professional. When I fly with my family, he is not a husband to me, my kids are not my children at that time,” she said.

Those boundaries make shared moments in the air stand out. Satpreet finds the feeling hard to put into words. “Literally, in the aircraft as a pilot at 40,000 feet and as a father, I am on top of the world.”

Away from the aircraft, the family fishes. “These are the little moments that remind me that before my boys are pilots, and my husband is a pilot, we are a family,” Sharmila said. Satpreet carries a lesson from his own father. “Though you fly in the air, keep one foot on the ground. You never let your head and attitude fly,” he recalled. Satvikrant adds a lesson of his own. “Motivation will come and go, but discipline will make sure that you stay and do your objective.”

Their careers have run alongside the airline’s changes, including Fiji Airways’ name returning. “It was sad to see Air Pacific and its livery go, but it was exciting to welcome the original name, Fiji Airways. It depicted where the airline came from. It was a proud moment for all of us,” Sharmila explained.

As the airline marks its diamond anniversary, Sharmila sees it as more than a workplace. “For me, 75 years of history makes me feel proud and connected to the airline. From where it began to now becoming a world class airline, Fiji Airways has continued to represent the spirit, culture and hospitality of Fiji,” she said.

Satpreet shares the pride. “Connecting people from different countries and different nationalities, for an airline which has operated for 75 years, it is something I am very passionate and proud about. It speaks volumes about the strength of our leadership and safety culture, and I’ll keep carrying its flag until I retire.”

The family has flown together in different combinations over the years. Satpreet has been on the flight deck while Sharmila worked the cabin and one of their sons was part of the operating crew. One milestone remains. All four have yet to operate the same aircraft together, a rare feat for an airline family.

Satvikrant knows what that day means. “It would be one of the proudest days, where you realise all your hard work, your dedication, including your mum and dad’s sacrifices and your brother’s sacrifice, all kind of meets together. It would mean the world to us.”

For the Singhs, that flight is the next chapter in a story that has already taken them a long way.