...Could The Value Be The Same? GIA is definitely worse

In the year 2004 when the visionless NPP Government with blatant disregard for a revered national pride chose callously against sound reasoning to liquidate Osagyfo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s GHANA AIRWAYS, little did they reckon the ghost of the Ghana Airways they so brutally murdered only three years ago will show up at no other time but in Ghana’s 50th year as a sovereign state to haunt them.

October 29, 2007 marks two dear years since Ghana International Airlines (GIA) took to the skies as National carrier to replace Ghana Airways in a bid to repair the supposed mismanagement that had characterized Ghana Airways at the time. Current developments at GIA aptly find meaning in ace Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold”. It would interest Ghanaians to know that GIA’s current debt stock is in excess of $24 million only within two year of operation. The key factor being the leasing of aircrafts at not less than $1.5 million monthly. So one may ask, if after 40 years in operation, Ghana Airways was saddled with a debt of $160 million and GIA within 2 years has $24 million to contend with, then God help the poor Ghanaian taxpayer. If the GIAdebt portfolio continues to rise at this tempo, in 15 years, GIA would have exceeded Ghana Airways $160 million mark in excess of $180 million.

The million dollar question then is GHANA AIRWAYS AND GIA, could the value be the same? The value as far as GIA is concerned is definitely worse.

After the failure of the Brian Presbury/ Sammy Crabbe administration who were thrown out in a “Rambo” fashion and the abysmal performance of the aged Mr. Azu regime, GIA is gradually but clandestinely being played into the hands of management clearly made up of former Ghana Airways pilots.

The current CEO Capt (rtd) Joe Boachie, a former Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is a former Ghana Airways pilot retiring as a Captain.

The Acting Head of Flight Operations and chief pilot, Capt. Mills-Lamptey and the Head of Certifications, Capt. Collins Fosu were until the collapse of Ghana Airways Captains on the DC 10 aircrafts. The Ticketing and Reservations Unit is manned by former Ghana Airways personnel well vexed in their field. Cabin Service Supervisors are currently a pure breed of former Ghana Airways Cabin Crew.

A first batch of four former Ghana Airways pilots were sneaked out to Europe for training on the Boeing 767 aircraft as part of the certification process. A second batch also made up of four former Ghana Airways pilots are currently in Europe undergoing training on the Boeing 767 aircraft. If all the human resource enumerated above were within Ghanair at the peak of the crisis, why did the NPP Government not opt for restructuring instead of the outright liquidation of the airline? Capt Joe Boachie no doubt has and uphill task fixing this mess of a situation.

In fulfillment of a knee jerk promise made to Ghanaians to deliver a national carrier not later than 29th October, 2007, GIA took to the skies flying a leased 160 seater Boeing 757 from Ryan International Airlines, USA at $1.5 million monthly. GIA can in its current state not be said to be a full fledged Airline. It operates on an Air Operators License, which is only half way through the process to acquire an Air Operators CERTIFICATE.

By this status, GIA flies leased aircrafts, not registered in Ghana and with foreign pilots on behalf of GIA. This Air Operator’s Licence is usually a temporary dispensation and an airline taking advantage of such privilege is required to have under gone certification within a year and be issued with an Air Operator’s Certificte(AOC)which entails the airline in question acquiring her own aircraft registered in her country of nationality i.e. Ghana in the case of GIA with her own pilots and cabin crew. As of now GIA has no aircraft of her own, it is alleged that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is through the GCAA mounting pressure on GIA to acquire an AOC or be blacklisted and grounded.

GIA finds itself in a very precarious situation because the 230 seater Boeing 767 leased from Iceland air registered in Iceland as TF-LLA and painted in Ghanaian colours has been purchased by Virgin Nigeria and has since been delivered to them. Iceland replaced the Boeing 767 with a 184 seater Boeing 757 aircraft which survived a near air disaster due to engine failure in Spain. The instances enumerated above speaks volumes. No wonder the World Traveler President John Agyekum Kuffour has never flown GIA. His non patronage of the national carrier only confirms his lack of confidence in an airline he put in place to replace the already established Ghana Airways that only had management problems which were not insurmountable.

It is important to remind Ghanaians that Ghana Airways before it’s demise had 3DC10 aircrafts and 3 DC 9 aircrafts. Needless to mention the numerous lucrative routes: London Heathrow (it’s also important to remind Ghanaians that Ghana Airways operations into London was to the prestigious HEATHROW AIRPORT and not the second class Gatwick Airport into which GIA operates) other routes in Europe were Dusseldorf, Hamburg in Germany, Rome in Italy, JFK and Baltimore in the USA with far advanced plans to operate into Atlanta and Georgia in USA and Toronto in Canada. In the West African subregion Ghana Airways was the dominant airline. The sight of Ghana Airways in Lome, Coutonou, Lagos, Abidjan, Freetown, Conakry, Monrovia, Banjul, Dakar, Ouagadougou and Bamako was a welcome relief to many an anxious passenger who had no national airline to count on.

Harare and Johannesburg in South Africa, Dubai and Beirut were also good routes. Without intending to question the level headedness of the NPP administration, the question still remains why they chose to trade the well established and structured Ghana Airways with all her aircrafts, routes and estates for GIA that has no plane, operates from very expensive rented premises, and leases planes in excess of $1 M/month. Amounts sunk by this Government into GIA remain unclear, however there is no doubt that cash expended on GIA could have rescued Ghana Airways.

Interestingly, the official liquidator, the Registrar General continues to waste the meager amounts realized from the sale of Ghana Airways on frivolous legal tussles. A case in point is the rumpus over the state of Airways Catering Limited (ACL) whilst former Ghana Airways staffs continue to live under severe hardship with their severance benefits unpaid. GIA operations have lately been characterized by delays and outright flight cancellations which are not communicated to passengers in good time resulting in chaos either at the Kotoka International Airport or Gatwick, London.

Ironically the NPP government that seemingly has no clear aviation policy has an Aviation Ministry, a dormant one at that. At a time when the 50 year old Ghana cannot boast of a single commercial aircraft.

The age old saying “Give a dog a bad name so you can hang it was powerfully employed in the crucifixion of Ghana Airways. In the process there was no sympathy from Ghanaians in the government’s bid to kill Ghana Airways. Now with the goings on at GIA, did we go or did we come? Certainly not. GIA, the value is disgusting.