| – Former GAC Head Fazal KhanBy Zena HenryA former head of the now-defunct state-owned Guyana Airways Corporation has blamed government officials for the current aviation woes gripping the country.Former GAC General Manager, Fazal Khan is adamant that political spite rather than financial or operational problems forced the closure of the airline back in the late nineties, and it is one of the major reasons Guyanese are paying exorbitant prices to travel up North.The former aviation official is convinced that Guyana’s current state of affairs is one that could have been avoided, with the continuance of the “prosperous and developing” state-owned carrier being preserved and prized for its functioning and importance to Guyanese travelers.“They didn’t know they were making a mistake because they do not understand aviation,” Khan told Kaieteur News. “They were totally clueless and had they known it was a mistake, they would have never done it, but by the time they realized, it was already too late,” he said in a recent interview at his Queenstown residence.Former GAC GM Fazal KhanKhan believes that he was “pushed aside” as head of the GAC for expressing his reservations about one political appointment. According to Khan, he realized that the lack of forward-thinking management would destroy the GAC and he therefore gave the then powers some eight months to reconsider their position of removing him.But he said that “reconsideration never occurred; the airline was eventually sold and within less than a year the airline was in total chaos,” Khan charged.He said that prior to this, the state-owned entity had been making strides.“We had about 80 percent of the market shares in the country, while receiving not a cent from the government. Not even when we requested to borrow only half a million dollars from the government after running into debt that we could not avoid, did they give it.”Khan continued that despite huge expenditures, GAC was making, “three, four and five million dollars pre-tax yearly. We had very good junior and senior staff. People were sent for university education in marketing, aviation management and diploma courses.” He boasted that as far as he is aware Guyana Airways was the first regional airline to offer free headphones and alcohol on board the aircraft.He continued that Guyana Airways grew to fly five flights to New York, and three times to Toronto, weekly, while trips increased during peak summer seasons with North American Airlines having to be chartered to aid the influx of travelers. GAC was able to increase its feet of planes under his stewardship.Khan said for the first time in the country’s history there were local pilots who were captains on jets.“The first choice for passengers was Guyana Airways….no doubt about it. We had a beautiful airline. We shouldn’t be asking for nothing,Cheap Basketball Jerseys For Sale, we had everything ourselves, and we blew it.”He argued that while Guyana is begging CAL to lower airfares and for better treatment, GAC was ideal for Guyanese. “Passengers back then paid around four and five hundred US to travel.”Nowadays, Guyanese are hounded with heavy pricing and even poor service. Recently, local authorities and executives of the Trinidadian owned Caribbean Airlines which holds the monopoly for the Guyana -New York route, met to discuss what authorities consider is “less than acceptable treatment of passengers” on the finance-losing carrier’s most lucrative route.Peak season fares are being offered at as much as US$1,300, almost twice the price CAL charged passengers before the pull out of US carrier Delta Airlines earlier this year. As it relates to Canada, passengers have complained about paying CAN$650 for a five hour flight to Trinidad, while an extra CAN$400 is for the remaining one-hour flight out of Trinidad to Guyana.The situation has however caused a massive stir among travelers, angering thousands in the European, North American and Caribbean diaspora wanting to travel during the holidays.The government even went as far as threatening CAL’s recently acquired flag carrier status. The say however, that CAL has agreed to review its price structure, flight times, and system of flight connections and the mandatory disembarking of an aircraft to New York transiting Trinidad.For now, Guyanese remain hostage to the only airline going north from Guyana. Much anticipation has grown with the emergence of Fly Jamaica; a partnership between Guyanese and Jamaican investors. The charter is already flying Jamaica-New York route and is expected to do the same as soon as FAA gives approval, bringing some competition to the CAL dominated route. |
