AIRLINE INDUSTRY TROUBLES

How the GIA and others can survive.


In the past 10 days ATA Airlines, Skybus, Aloha Airgroup and now Frontier Airlines have all filed for bankruptcy. These are not airlines that were mismanaged and turned into private tro-tros like our good Ghana Airways. Even if the Ghana government had continued to susidize Ghana Airways, there is no doubt that it would have collapsed by now.

So how come Ghana International Airlines (GIA) is still flying even after their part in the Barbados Chartar fiasco? The key is to look at the routes. The most lucrative routes in the airline industry are in Africa. Airfares from Europe and the USA to Africa have been at cut throat prices since 1973 and travelling Africans have in some way subsidized the cheap travel Westerners enjoy. Even though Wall Street does not acknowledge this, Delta Airlines was rescued from bankruptcy after they started on the lucrative New York- ACCRA route, now four times a week.

If GIA get their act together, they will be still be flying long after Alitalia, American Airlines, SouthWest, etc., file for bankruptcy. After the demise of the old Ghana Airways and until Delta Airlines came on the New York- West African route, it was monopolized by a small airline called North American Airlines (NAA) and this monopoly kept them in the business. Many Ghanaian travellers complained bitterly about the kind of service they provided, but we learnt to grin and bear it because there was no alternative.

Once Delta Airlines arrived and started out with a far more superior service and at similar prices, we defected en masse and it was not long before NAA realized they were flying empty planes to Accra. As fuel prices went out of control it became a loss making trip for the airline and about six weeks ago, NAA threw in the towel and reportedly are now going to concentrate on operating Charter flights.

That should serve as a warning to Delta Airlines to treat their West African passengers with the same level of customer service they provide everywhere. It is only a matter of time before other major airlines like American, Continental, North West and even newer companies like Jet Blue Airways get wind of the West African cash cow. Recent developments, particularly the discovery of oil in Ghana, will result in increased air travel between Ghana and the USA. When that happens, customer loyalty will become very important and now is the time to court and establish it.- gbetor@kpetoe