Stabroek News
May 30, 2001

The bulk of GA2000's staff has been asked to go on no pay leave while talks continue with several airlines on linkages and also for new investment.

Meanwhile, the Office of the President has announced that the government will cover the travel cost of returning some 300 GA2000 passengers stranded in Guyana to their homes in North America.

It is awaiting word from BWIA's Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Aleong, on the arrangements that have been put in place so that the passengers could be flown home at the earliest opportunity. However, the government is maintaining the decision it took last year not to bail out the cash-strapped airline, in which it has a 49 per cent stake and which it is willing to divest. A consortium of businessmen headed by DDL Chairman, Yesu Persaud, holds the other 51 per cent of the company.

Meanwhile GA2000 is optimistic that it could resume its flight operations within a month if efforts to forge a strategic alliance with major US and Caribbean-based airlines with which it is in discussions succeed. A statement yesterday from PCCL, the airline's public relations consultants said: "If the discussions are successful, GA2000 would re-start flight operations within the next month maintaining its status as the National Airline with its strategic partners providing vital support in aircraft, marketing, training, maintenance and routing."

GA2000 was forced to suspend its operations on May 15, after it failed to conclude an arrangement with a strategic investor which would have allowed it to complete an agreement for continuing to lease the B757 aircraft it leased from Ansett Worldwide Aviation. Ansett has since run into financial difficulties and is to be acquired by Singapore Airlines.

The Office of the President statement said "the stranded passengers had appealed to His Excellency for his assistance so that they can return home." The stranded passengers had travelled to Guyana on GA2000 from Toronto and New York before GA2000 suspended its operations. However, Stabroek News has learnt that the government's action was also prompted by the death of a baby whose parents were unable to return with her to New York where the infant was receiving specialised treatment not available in Guyana.

The government announcement came in the wake of the airline's increasing difficulties in arranging the return of the stranded passengers because of its liquidity problems and the unavailability of BWIA seats, particularly to Toronto.

PCCL said that GA2000 had "in excess of US$1 million in cash deposits combined in a special trust in Toronto, with First Data Marketing Services, a US credit card management service and with the Airline Reporting Committee covering travel agencies, specifically for the purpose of protecting passengers."

However, it pointed out that unfortunately "the reconciliation process involved in the forward sales nature of the airline's business does not permit immediate access to liquidity from these accounts to service passenger transfer or refund by the airline to the passenger. The airline, therefore continues to seek other solutions to the problem."

The statement said GA2000 was doing everything it could to service stranded passengers and that it would notify them as soon as arrangements were in place.

The statement added that while it continued its efforts to find a strategic partner it was maintaining its airport handling operations with minimum of staff reductions. "The majority of the company's employees who are directly connected with flight operations have been asked to accept a no-pay leave arrangement while a skeleton staff is retained for administration and customer services."

The statement said that on Monday, the airline's employees were briefed on its current position and efforts to attract new investment and to forge a strategic operational alliance by directors and management including the government's director, Winston Brassington, head of the Privatisation Unit.