An estimated 40 employees have been laid off by Roraima Airways, following three separate events this year, including the recent decision by Dynamic Airways to withdraw operations from Guyana.
According to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Roraima Group of Companies, Captain Gerry Gouveia, Guyanese personnel working with Dynamic had been employed by Roraima, but due to the company having experienced several issues this year, they were faced with “tremendous retrenchment” which resulted in 40 persons being laid off, including those who would have been working with Dynamic.
This, he said would include the decision by Dynamic Airways to pull out of the Guyanese market in order to focus on Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance (ACMI) operations, as well as, the suspension of both the interior shuttle operations and the operations of Honduran airline Easy Sky, by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
In response to questions of refunds to passengers who would have booked flights with Dynamic beyond October 2, the CEO said that its former partner has made “strong commitments” to refund passengers and that Roraima is currently in the process of compiling a list of names of persons who would have paid for flights beyond October 2.
Acting Director-General of the GCAA, Saheed Sulaman, when contacted by Stabroek News on a previous occasion, had noted that the Authority currently held a US$200,000 bond for the airline.
“The airline has a bond in place to address passengers …should Dynamic fail to honour that obligation,” Sulaman said, when asked about the process in place. In some previous cases, the bond had not been sufficient to cover all outstanding tickets.
Meanwhile, as reported by Stabroek News earlier this year, the decision to suspend the operation of Easy Sky in Guyana came in April this year, in light of several safety concerns.
GCAA Director-General Lt. Col (ret) Egbert Field, in a statement issued by the Government Information Agency (GINA), had explained that safety deficiencies which were uncovered after the Authority’s inspectors had conducted oversight inspections, following reports of non-standard procedures by Easy Sky airline, had caused the suspension of its operations.
Similarly, the decision to suspend shuttle operations came in the wake of a spate of aircraft-related incidents in the local aviation industry, two of which had resulted in fatalities.
However, Stabroek News understands that the Roraima team has already had their shuttle operations manual approved and would have facilitated the onsite inspection of its interior locations. Thus, the airline is now awaiting approval from the GCAA to resume shuttle operations.
