Staff of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority protesting against the encroachment of aviation lands, are expected to meet the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah today, over their concerns.
The meeting was called at the behest of the Chief of Staff when he, together with the Minister of Transport, Fiifi Kwetey and Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Nii Osah Mills intervened to call off a strike that led to the grounding of all domestic flights on Saturday morning.
The meeting, scheduled to take place at the Flagstaff House will among other things be expected to find a lasting solution to the grievances of the aviation workers.
The workers are agitating the encroachment of lands belonging to the GCAA which they contend has made it difficult to install an HF facility worth over 600,000 Euros.
Earlier, they had also warned of a possible judgement debt to the GCAA and the country at large following the failure to install the equipment by today, July 11, 2016.
Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Nii Osah Mills intervened on Friday to release about 20 acres of land to the GCAA for the installation of the equipment.
But the workers who were unhappy with the offer, declared a strike that grounded all domestic flights for almost six hours on Saturday morning.
The strike was however called off and today’s meeting will determine the next line of action by the workers.
Meanwhile the Director General of the GCAA, Simon Allotey is optimistic that the issue will be solved amicably as he has assured the general public of his outfit’s commitment to protect the authority’s lands while ensuring air safety by conforming to international standards.
Domestic airlines lose over GH¢150,000 to strike
Citi Business News understands Saturday’s strike led to the loss of about 200,000 cedis by the domestic airline operators.
According to them, the development was largely due to refund of air transport fares.
The CEO of Starbow Airlines, James Eric Antwi explained, “We have cancelled three flights this morning; these included flights to Takoradi and Kumasi. Well, if you talk in terms of money, it will cost between GH¢120, 000 to GH¢150,000…So in terms of money and inconveniences, it’s been very bad.”
For his part, the Ground Operations Manager at Africa World Airlines (AWA), Rainer Yeboah, indicated that the action had impacted heavily on AWA’s operations.
“We had to refund monies to some passengers who demanded that… some customers were demanding answers why we could not fly them to their respective destinations which of course was also beyond our control…I cannot give you the actual figures but we are talking of costs in the region of 50,000 cedis.”
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana