Coronavirus: GCAA slashes workers salaries by 50% to reduce revenue losses

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) says it has had an arrangement with the Workers Union at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to pay 50 percent of their salaries in a bid to stay afloat due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This follows the Authority revealing it has lost nearly 95 percent of its revenue income due to the novel coronavirus inflicted ban on foreign travel and general operations.

According to the Director General of the GCAA, Simon Allotey, the additional 50 percent of the salaries will be refunded to the workers once normalcy returns at the airport.

“We’ve come up with an arrangement with the Workers Union to pay 50% of their salaries and the other 50% we are withholding will be refunded in good times when the situation normalizes. This way, it will keep the Authority going in terms of its financial obligations as long as possible,” Simon Allotey told Citi Business News.

Mr Allotey adds, the Authority following the pandemic, has also had to cut down on new recruitments in order to stay afloat.

Despite government’s resolve to repatriate some stranded Ghanaians citizens due to the closure of land and air borders in the wake of the pandemic, the GCAA says the move will not be enough to meet its budget expenditure.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) releasing its latest financial outlook for the global air transport industry has said airlines are expected to lose US$84.3 billion in 2020 for a net profit margin of -20.1%.

According to the aviation body, revenues are expected to fall some 50% to US$419 billion from US$838 billion in 2019. In 2021, losses are expected to be cut to US$15.8 billion as revenues rise to US$598 billion.