Ewan Smith - The Story of Air Rarotonga

Ewan arrived in Rarotonga in 1973, founded Air Rarotonga in 1978, and is still the Managing Director nearly 50 years later. Ewans leadership and commitment to the people of the Cook Islands has formed Air Rarotonga into the extremely well respected airline that is it today - both domestically and internationally. In this interview he tells the story of how it all started, the ups and downs of running an airline in the remote south pacific, and also how personal tragedy has shaped his and his family's lives. Episode Links: Ewan Smith Photo https://www.ewansmithphoto.com/ Air Rarotonga FB   / airraro   Also available on Spotify and other major podcast apps. 0:00 Introduction 1:39 Cook Island Airways 12:53 Navigation 16:24 Commitment to Cook Islands 20:04 Air Rarotonga Beginnings 28:21 Munro Hockin 33:23 DC8 Lease 37:32 First Bandeirante 40:44 Competition 43:27 Bandeirante Aircraft 40:06 First Saab 340A 51:22 Codeshare Agreements 53:16 Citation Jet 56:58 COVID 1:02:43 Challenges 1:07:37 Community Spirit 1:13:53 Pilot Training/Local Staff 1:21:18 Social Good 1:23:54 Personal Tragedy 1:36:39 Photography 1:45:01 Final Questions