A Ghanaian International Diplomatic Consultant, Farouk Al-Wahab, has stated how lack of effective management led to the collapse of Ghana Airways, the nation’s flag carrier.
Founded a year after Ghana’s independence, Ghana Airways grew to become a giant in the aviation industry but collapsed in 2004 after being riddled in debt
Speaking on the ‘Final Point’ on Top FM hosted by Kwabena Owusu Agyemang, Farouk Al-Wahab attributed managerial indiscipline and mismanagement as one of the reasons Ghana Airways collapsed.
To buttress his point, the international diplomat alleged an instance where a manager of the airline under the former President John Agyekum Kufuor government, went partying with one of the jets belonging to the airline while paying passengers were kept waiting at the airport.
“We ever had a Ghana Airways manager whom while passengers were waiting for a flight to London, that same flight was going to go to Dusseldorf, he had taken the plane to party in Nigeria.
“I am just telling you that we had a Ghana Airways manager who partied with a jet. He boarded a plane to go and party while passengers were kept at the Kotoka International Airport. He sat in the plane and went for his private visit in Lagos while the passengers were waiting, he went to drop his friends,” he stated.
Farouk Al-Wahab noted the achievements of Ghana Airways saying that the airline had its offices and operations spread across the continent including countries such as Burkina Faso, Cote D’ Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leon, Monrovia, Gambia, and others.
He stated that Ghana Airways, during its operational days, was the only African Airline that had all of its flying officers being Ghanaian nationals.
His statement was in contribution to a discussion on the absence of a national carrier in Ghana some 65 years after independence.
