The two-week closure of Guyana’s two main airports to international passenger traffic as part of the response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has resulted in at least one business reducing staff as they anticipate a steep dip in income.
For Roraima Airways, the ground handler for American Airlines and Eastern Airlines and which also operates domestic and charter services out of the Eugene F Correia Inter-national Airport (EFCIA) at Ogle, East Coast Deme-rara, a three-month downsizing of staff is imminent.
Roraima’s Chief Execu-tive Gerry Gouveia ex-plained, “We haven’t finalised it as yet but we sent out a general letter telling staff that we have to do restructuring. We are not terminating our staff. People will go off on their leave now as an option and that sort of thing. In other areas, where nothing is happening at our hotels and restaurants, the staff will have to be sent home for the three-month period without pay,” he said.