Information reaching Chronicle’s monitoring desk from UK says the offices of Ghana Airways (Ghanair) in Heathrow, London, and one of the airline’s DC-10 aircraft has been seized in faraway London. The seizure of the aircraft and the property was the result of a court action initiated by A.J. Walters Aviation and granted by a London court. A.J. Walters Aviation, a company which deals in aircraft parts, had filed a writ in court seeking order to attach Ghanair’s property in London to defray a $4.7 million debt owed it.

Chronicle’s sources at Viscount House Partridge Green, at West Sussex offices of A.J. Walters in London, admitted that the spare parts company had indeed seized the properties of the airline to defray its debt. The source said the action was the last resort instituted by Walters wasted no time in carrying out the order and they grounded one of the DC-10 aircraft, which had been flown out on Monday while the offices at Heathrow are also attached, making it impossible for Ghanair to do business there. A.J. Walters is one of the companies which has a spare parts deal with Ghanair and the sources said the indebtedness of the airline to the tune of $4.7 million might have resulted from the spare parts deal. The genesis of the airline’s indebtedness was a result of a questionable spare parts agreement dubbed Power by the Hour signed by Ghanair with A.J. Walters Aviation on 18 February 2000.

The agreement was to supply three of DC-9 rotable parts to the airline. In the course of the agreement, Mr Joe Browne, the then deputy head of engineering and now second in command in the Management Task Force of Ghanair and former CEO Mr Emmanuel Quartey Jnr., even sold all the rotable DC-9 parts to A.J. Walters. To date, monies accrued from the sale of the rotable parts cannot be traced. Quartey later told a section of workers that the monies accrued from the sale of the parts had been used to reconcile an outstanding account with A.J. Walters. While this agreement was being signed, the then head of engineering, Mr H. Atta Badu, who should have weighed the viability of the deal as the head of engineering was kept in the dark. The sad aspect of this agreement was that even Ghanair continued to pay for a DC-9 aircraft, which was parked in Nipole in Italy.

Also, another DC-9 aircraft which crashed in Guinea and did not enjoy the supply of a single spare part over a year was also billed as long as the agreement was still operational. A.J. Walters continued to bill Ghanair, including the aircraft that was not airworthy and out of operation. For example, DC-9 aircraft with registration number 9G ADY which crashed in Conakry, Guinea, in 2000, was always billed at the end of every month due to the nature of the agreement signed by Quartey and Browne with the support of Mr B.A. Donkor, the head of the legal department of Ghanair. Another aspect of the agreement is that whenever Ghanair fails to pay at the end of the month, A.J. Walters surcharged it for late payment and this attracted 10 per cent per annum for 31 days which worked out to $26,985.81 a month and this has also led to the swelling of the debt to $4.7 million. The agreement was based on a minimum utilization of 192 hours per aircraft per month and this brought the number of hours by the three aircraft to 576 hours which is $335, and this means that Ghanair pays $195,000 for each of the aircraft a month. With this simple calculation, the figures swelled in no time. Capt Kwakwa would not speak to the Chronicle when contacted on Wednesday to find out what management is doing to ensure the release of the aircraft and other serious issues bordering on the mismanagement of the company. But Chronicle sources at the Castle indicated that Ghanair officials have narrated the bad news to authorities concerned. The woes of Ghanair started with the appointment of Mr Emmanuel Quartey Jnr.

Interestingly, Ghanair was always out to defend and even ran a number of advertisements through newspapers and international magazines painting a bright picture about the airline when the realities on the ground did not support this. Shortly after the present administration came into office, Quartey cunningly tendered in his resignation and flew out to London. Chronicle intelligence at the White Avenue, the headquarters of the airline, alleged that Quartey one Sunday stormed the offices of Ghanair after his resignation and carried away a number of documents. Upon this information, he was invited by the security agencies for questioning, which led to the seizure of his passport, but it was later released to him after his lawyers had applied through the Attorney-General’s office. After his departure, a certain Mr Owusu was engaged as a consultant who later gave way to what is now known as the Management Task Force.

Surprisingly, 99.5 per cent of the members of the Management Task Force were key members of Quartey’s administration, which has brought the airline to its current untold and tattered position. Chronicle even has evidence that one member of the present administration was on double salary during the Quartey era.