Ghanair Gets DC10 On Monday

Ghana Airways will finally take delivery of its DC10 aircraft, which has been sitting in the United States, latest by Monday October 20, the Chief Executive of the Airline, Mr. Philip Owusu, has said.

Mr. Owusu told The Chronicle in a telephone interview in Accra yesterday that the aircraft was in a better shape.

He said another aircraft would soon be acquired as a backup to the DC 10 to avoid the frequent flight cancellations and delays that had become synonymous with the airline.

The Chief Executive had earlier told the workers that the aircraft would arrive on Monday October13, this week.

On the action to be taken against those implicated in the forensic audit report, Mr. Owusu said the Minister of Roads and Transport had presented the names to the Attorney General for advice.

Mr. Roland W. Mosore, Secretary of the Senior Staff Association told The Chronicle yesterday that the delivery of the aircraft had been peddled around for almost a month now but they were yet to see whether it would arrive as the chief executive had stated.

He said although pilots and crewmen had been sent to the United States for sometime now nothing had happened.

According to Mosore, the precarious situation of the company had moved from bad to worse.

Supporting his claims with facts, he said since last Monday passengers who were supposed to be flown to Hamburg were still stranded at the airport. Another batch of passengers who were due to fly yesterday to various destinations did not know their fate, as there was no aircraft available.

The Chronicle gathered that most of the passengers besieged the corporate headquarters at White Avenue and collected their monies.

About two weeks ago, irate passengers destroyed property of the airline at the Kotoka International Airport, following the cancellation of their flight.

Mr. Mosore said he had learnt that the President had met the management and admonished them, which he described as a good sign, but doubted if this would change things "since the President has no clue about the situation on the ground."

He repeated the call by the workers for the dissolution of both the management and the board as the ultimate solution and the only way forward.