Thanx Maila,

Just the other day I was speaking to one of Ghana Airways' foreward managers who took me to see his well appointed collonade home in Duluth and the brand new mercedes he got as fringe benefit. I warned him that GA had quite a few disgruntled ex-passengers who were not pleased with the airline's punctuality and last-minute route-rescheduling. The man was too excited about his new-found comfort that he failed to fathom why Africans and Gambians in particular would demand value service or at least comparable service. He chuckled and derided that Gambians ought to be happy there is an airline to fly them out of the hell-hole that is Gambia. When he realized I was put off by that comment, he quickly changed to being apologetic. He mentioned that as time goes on, GA would perfect its west Africa routes. I mused that he may not have that time to improve. Ghana AIrways cannot depend on trekking folk from Accra to Kumasi for their existence and if they can't provide comparable service in their industry, they'd better stick to making Gari. I know this ineptitude does not pervade all Ghanaian administration and if they have an effective complaint and remediation programme, they could satisfy many a disgruntled traveller.

I only once travelled Ghana Airways from Banjul to Freetown, but that was when they had competition from British Airways, Nigeria Airways, Air-Afrique, you name it and it was good.

I think they ought to subscribe to the Post to hear their passengers. Gone are the days when the Gambian will gladly pay you for subpar service and leave the arbitration to God. We demand what we pay for now and save God the trouble of mediating. The almighty has enough to do as it is. If I were aggrieved, I would have filed a lawsuit against the airline at any port where it has landing rights or at the very least get a few other aggrieved ex-passengers to join me in vociferously lodging a complaint to the Airline's authority in Ghana and demand redress. We are not helpless. Let us use the appropriate options available. I bet they don't want to hear from me.