GA 2000 looking at leasing second, smaller aircraft - passengers upset at problems from flight delay
by Gwen Evelyn
DISGRUNTLED GA 2000 passengers plan to petition President Bharrat Jagdeo over problems they experienced last week after a flight from Toronto was delayed for days. The airline yesterday confirmed that its scheduled flight from Toronto to Georgetown last week Thursday was taken out of service for a "factory required repair" to the hydraulic system of the A300 Airbus it is using. It said the "temporary withdrawal from service of the aircraft" resulted in the airline having to make alternative arrangements for passengers from Toronto and those from Georgetown and New York. It said the Airbus returned to scheduled service Wednesday. But a passenger caught in the delays after the Toronto flight was suspended said she and others were not satisfied with the arrangements made for them. She yesterday said she has had signatures from 60 other passengers on the flight for a letter being sent to the President on their complaints. The Guyana Government has a 49 per cent share in the airline with a private sector grouping the majority shareholder. Passenger Ms Juliet Dukhi said she is coordinating the petitions complaint to Mr Jagdeo. She and another passenger, Mr Karl Harding said they were to have left Toronto, at 11:30 hours last week Thursday. Dukhi said she called the GA 2000 Toronto office to confirm her flight and was told that there were problems and the airline was trying to get Air Transit instead to bring the passengers here. Dukhi said GA 2000 subsequently called back to inform her that they were able to get Air Transit but with no crew. She asked when she would be able to leave and was assured that she would know. However, the passenger said she was later contacted again and told that the flight had been cancelled indefinitely. GA 2000 called a second time to say that the flight will leave at 15:30 hours and that check-in time was at 13:00 hours, she said. She said she checked with the airline office the following morning to ensure that the flight was still on and was told it was but that it would leave at 16:30 hours instead. Dukhi said she and her two-month-old baby went to the airport and joined other passengers and everyone saw the GA 2000 plane come in. But at 17:00 hours they were unable to board. Harding said he was the first to notice something leaking from above a rear wheel of the plane and at 19:30 hours GA 2000 staff told waiting passengers that the plane had a hydraulic leak. The airline yesterday said specialist engineers were flown to Toronto from Airbus Industries in France to do the repairs. While at the airport in Toronto awaiting their flight, passengers said they were given Cdn$15 chits for a meal from a restaurant at the airport and were promised to be kept updated. But, to their disappointment, at 22:30 hours they were told that the plane was not immediately serviceable and passengers would be unable to leave Toronto that day. Dukhi and Harding recalled that it was very cold. Nobody had coats since they had expected to be in Guyana and children were among those feeling the Spring night air's chill. Dukhi said her baby got a flu due to the cold. Passengers were given taxi vouchers and told to go home. They said they were, however, unable to get their luggage back since no staff was on hand to unload it from the aircraft. Dukhi said Saturday morning found her without clothes and no milk for her child. She spent Cdn$200 buying these plus medication for the baby's flu. She said GA 2000 contacted her that afternoon at 17:00 hours to say that they had chartered Royal Air and the flight was on for Monday at noon. Harding confirmed Dukhi's story and said he is disgusted with the way GA 2000 treated those on its flight. He said that no explanation was offered nor information given and efforts to contact GA 2000 in Toronto were futile. "They did not approach us appropriately...there were no answers, information or conversation", he said, adding that this attitude frustrates people. Harding said when they were told late Friday night that the flight had been cancelled, irate passengers started demanding answers. According to him, nobody was violent nor abusive. However, the police were called in. Harding said one walked up to him and asked how he would like to spend a night in a prison cell. GA 2000 said it is continuing discussions with the Ansett firm of Australia to lease a Boeing 757 to replace the Airbus. Acting General Manager, Mr Nowrang Persaud said he is "uncomfortable with a single aircraft airline" and GA 2000 is "seriously considering leasing a second smaller aircraft to increase our flight schedules and to avoid the inconvenience caused our passengers when it becomes necessary to take an aircraft out of service for unscheduled maintenance." He said "maximum safety is our absolute priority".
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