GA 2000 refutes Chronicle report
GUYANA AIRWAYS (GA 2000) has described a report about the airline published in yesterday's Chronicle as "erroneous and irresponsible". According to a statement yesterday, the report headlined "Engine trouble delays GA 2000 flight" contains a number of statements and assertions which are "wholly unfounded, erroneous and irresponsible". It noted that in spite of a release issued by the airline about the circumstances of the Friday flight, this newspaper reported that the aircraft "developed engine trouble". The earlier release had stated that the GA 2000 flight which departed the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri on Friday, January 14 at 22:30 hrs, was forced to return to the airport after 40 minutes in flight because of the malfunction of an engine safety warning system. The release yesterday pointed out that the Sunday Chronicle report claimed that after the return of the aircraft, GA 2000 passengers were left to wait "for more than three hours" before being attended to or being informed about the status of the flight. It also stated that the passengers were "not given anything to eat until hours later", and that "staff of BWIA helped to make coffee at the airport for stranded wheelchair-bound passengers, after GA 2000 airport staff left". The facts, GA 2000 noted, are as follows: * 01:00 hrs - Passengers deplaned and were accommodated in the departure lounge by GA 2000 staff. * 01:45 hrs - Passengers were informed by GA 2000 staff in the departure lounge that it had been clearly established that the aircraft would be unable to fly until further notice and that meals would be taken off the aircraft and provided as soon as possible. * 02:15 hrs - The 251 passengers were served meals taken off the aircraft by GA 2000 staff in the departure lounge. * 03:00 hrs - Passengers were asked to collect their baggage, then off-loaded at the customs and were provided with travel vouchers to be cashed at the GA 2000 Main Street Head Office. A number of passengers who had travelled extremely long distances were provided with accommodation at nearby airport and East Bank Demerara hotels, in anticipation by GA 2000 staff, at the time, that the aircraft could possibly be rescheduled to depart Guyana later the same day, Saturday, January 15.
Yesterday's GA 2000 release said that three wheelchaired passengers declined passage to Georgetown and/or accommodation and elected to remain at the airport in anticipation of the flight possibly leaving later in the day. Those passengers were accommodated and fed in the GA 2000 staff lunch room and later placed in hotels. In addition, GA 2000 said it maintained a full complement of ground staff at the airport until 21:00 hrs Saturday night, January 15, noting too, that a 24-hour staff presence was also maintained at the airport. BWIA staff were never involved in assisting or caring in any way for the GA 2000 passengers, the release pointed out. In regretting the delay and inconvenience suffered by its passengers as a result of the malfunctioning of the aircraft warning systems, GA 2000 emphasised that aircraft and passenger safety are the airline's first priorities. It added that "Once a warning system indicates any possibility of equipment malfunction, passenger safety demands that the aircraft return and land at the nearest airport". In the circumstances, GA 2000 said, it did everything possible to provide for its passengers and for the return of the airline to its scheduled service.
A Guyana Airways 2000 flight, which was aborted on Saturday because of the malfunctioning of an engine warning system, was due to have departed Guyana at 20:00 hrs yesterday. This was however, dependent on the arrival of a container with spares, which was erroneously taken off a New York/Trinidad/Guyana-BWIA flight in Trinidad. The repairs to be carried out by engineers from the Australian airline firm, Norstress, entailed replacement of the electrical components of the malfunctioning engine warning system and the replacement of a set of landing wheels and brake components. The latter were affected when the plane made a single engine landing. According to sources, GA 2000 officials were late yesterday afternoon making efforts to get the container to Guyana by the first available aircraft out of Trinidad and Tobago. Meanwhile, a release dispatched by the airline's Public Relations (PR) firm, PCCL stated that GA 2000 flights will return to normalcy on Wednesday. According to the statement, the airline re-scheduled its New York and Toronto flights for Monday and Tuesday, January 17 and 18, to accommodate the forced delay of departure on Saturday. With the revised schedule, passengers who were scheduled to travel on flights GY752 and GY762, departing Friday January 14 and Saturday January 15 last, were expected to leave at last night, while another batch of passengers will travel at 14:30 hrs today. The release further noted that priority has been given on the first flight out, to passengers originally scheduled to fly on Friday. Those passengers were asked to confirm their reservations with the airline's head office in Main Street in the City, before leaving for the airport. Passengers, who were scheduled to travel from New York on GA 2000 flights over the weekend, Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, are due to depart on GY 751 at 06:00 hrs this morning, arriving in Guyana at 12:30 hrs. Also, passengers originally scheduled to depart for Toronto at 16:30 hrs today, January 17, are now scheduled to leave at 05:00 hrs tomorrow, January 18.
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