Former GIA Workers Wants New National Carrier

The former workers of the defunct Ghana Airways are calling on the Mills’ led administration to re-establish the airlines. The former Chairman of the Workers Union, Alex Coffie and former Chairman of the Senior Staff Association, Roland Morose both said it was important that Ghana gets its own national carrier. They were guests on the Big Bite on X fm 95.1, a commercial private radio station in Accra.

The Ghana International Airlines has been in the news in recent times for the bad reasons. The airliner was grounded on a number of occasions, as well as its former officials being hauled to court for the various roles they played in managing the airline. The troubles of the once thriving airliner have deepened since its operations were suspended by the government due to its inability to fly passengers. The workers of the company have been asked to go home until further notice.

Mr Alex Coffie said it was more difficult liquidating the once thriving airliner than it would be setting it up once again. He said, “This is very simple matter. Putting the star back into the skies is going to take just three months. If the current government will want to do it, it is just as simple as that. The brains are around, the professionals are there. All we are asking for is a sovereign guarantee, because these days you do not need physical cash to buy an aircraft.”

He also said the discovery of oil is another reason why the country should have its own national airline.

The former workers will blame the erstwhile New Patriotic Party government for the collapse of the airline. They said the Kufuor administration took a singular political decision that spelt doom for the nation’s airline. They said leadership of the workers union met the then president John Kufuor personally over the issue who “he pretended to show some concern”, but nothing was done to salvage the situation.

Now that there is a change of government, they appealed to President Mills to do all within his power to establish a national airline saying even some African countries with less credentials than Ghana has national airlines of their own.\

ROBERT ISRAEL/ ABENA ASIEDUA TENKORANG XFM 95.1, ACCRA, GHANA