Opinions of Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Columnist: Bonsu, Ama

Delta Airlines spits in the face of Ghanaians

It’s no secret, I hate Delta airlines. They are notorious for flight delays and if they possess an iota of customer service they don’t extend it to their Ghanaian clients. I have tried to understand why a company that makes substantial profits off the Ghanaian market treats this loyal base so poorly. Well, the answer came in a tweet after the Ghana vs USA match - See they believe we are animals - giraffes to be precise.

Once you are able to ignore the fact that giraffes are not found in Ghana, you will understand that when the media gurus at Delta think of the USA, they automatically link it to the awe-inspiring statue of Liberty. However, when they think of Ghana - the West African country which treats them with unparalleled hospitality; whose unwavering patronage during the recession generated outstanding revenues to the fledging company - it conjures an image of an animal in the wild.

After several years of feeling the brunt of Delta’s erratic service, 2 years ago, I boycotted the airlines. Others who succumb to the lure of direct flights from the US to Accra are not short of complaints. On May 24th for instance, a Delta flight that was supposed to depart JFK to Accra, was delayed for over 12 hours. The passengers were told that the delay was due to a kerfuffle with their pilots, no, it was due to fuel shortage, the story kept changing… Instead of providing all the passengers with hotel vouchers or meal tickets, a select few were given taxi chits. Most of the passengers had to fend for themselves. Since 2009, Delta has consistently demonstrated that they do not respect the Ghanaian passenger. So although the giraffe tweet was offensive, it pales in comparison to how Delta treats its Ghanaian customers.

Which begs the question: Why has Ghana's Minister of tourism not responded to this rude depiction of our beloved country. But most importantly, which arm of the government will hold Delta Airlines accountable for the repugnant manner that it continues to treat Ghanaians.

By Amma Bonsu
amma@ammazingseries.com