Bwia is flying away with your money

BWIA is Flying Away With Your Money

One gloomy topic that would always present itself when Guyanese visited you abroad in those times was the kick-down-the-door crime that was ubiquitous under Burnham's rule. Another was the trader phenomenon. At that time, Guyana had no economy and the intrepid traders were the life line for desperate Guyanese. But once this question was discussed, BWIA came into the picture. During the rule of Forbes Burnham, BWIA became a hated name in Guyana. There are two sides to a story (even though CN SHARMA would add more sides). In justification of BWIA's horrible attitude to and mistreatment of Guyana and Guyanese, it was said the traders brought it on. They were loud, ill-mannered,, vulgar, aggressive and broke every rule in the book.
The argument continued that because of the super-profits BWIA was making from the Guyana run, BWIA couldn't pull out and had to tolerate the trader mess. But BWIA fought back in its own way by being rude, intolerant, contemptuous and disdainful of any and everything that was Guyanese, looked like Guyanese or had a Guyanese stamp on it. The other side told a different tale. It explained that there was an anti-Guyana outlook by BWIA because of what Guyana was passing through. This argument went on to state that even if the traders didn't manifest their unapproachable ways, BWIA would still have disliked Guyana and Guyanese. Burnham died in 1985, since then Guyana has rejoined the international family of democratic nations. Guyana today stands as perhaps the most open economy in the Caribbean where there is no restriction on the movement of foreign exchange out of the territory. But has BWIA shifted its gear in favour of flying leisurely with Guyanese on board? The answer is no.
If a poll is taken today and people are asked to name ten things they dislike about Guyana, there will be a toss up between BWIA and mini-bus drivers. A majority of people in this country do not like BWIA. If ten airlines were to operate in Guyana, and you invite Guyanese to prioritise them in terms of preference, BWIA would hit the bottom of the table. Why is this so? The reason is simply because BWIA just don't like Guyanese and Guyana. It had nothing to do with Burnham and that epoch as we have now come to see. Burnham is dead, that era is over, but BWIA habits continue.
Since the disappearance of GA 2000, BWIA has raised their fare to Toronto. It now has a monopoly on the Canadian route. Its fare to NY has risen too and it is only the existence of another carrier to New York that prevents BWIA from escalating its price even further for that route too. Do you know the BWIA office in Guyana is the only office of BWIA in the world where there is no direct telephone link between the head office and the host nation. BWIA has three numbers in the yellow pages, one of which is no longer in service, and the other two are perpetually engaged. Those other two numbers lead you not to Georgetown but to Trinidad. Then in the white pages, they have a series of numbers, but you cannot get through because they are permanently engaged. Last Monday, I took a cell phone and call all the numbers in the white pages for the head-office. I did this sitting in my car right in front of BWIA's office; all were engaged. I stepped out of the car and into the buildings walking through both levels, downstairs and upstairs. Everybody was working, no one was on the lines. Then I went onto the road, called the same numbers, and they were all engaged.
There is something fishy going on there. It would seem to me that the phones are programmed to be off the hook. It is virtually impossible to get these people by phone, and as I said before, once you need information on flights and reservation, you must go through Trinidad. This is the modus operandi of a business firm that makes an awful lot of profits from its Guyana operations. Its exchange rate is 190 for the American dollar, five dollars more than the other airlines. And not to mention that Guyana gets the smaller planes whether it is a flight to the Caribbean or North America.
The strange thing about the relation between Guyanese and BWIA is the acceptance of Guyanese of BWIA's abuse. Guyanese complain and protest about all types of institutional misbehaviour in this country the NIS, the PHG, the GPL, GT&T, UG, the Police, the Government, the American Embassy etc but never against BWIA. Yet if only Guyanese know how much they contribute to the profits of the business that BWIA does in Guyana.
I will leave you will a little bit of vintage BWIA treatment. A 30 day ticket from Georgetown to New York is about US 777. I called the BWIA office, in Trinidad of course, since there is no direct line to Robb Street. After waiting for ten minutes, I hung up. I went through that routine four times before I got through to Trinidad. I enquired about BWIA getting me to Toronto for a week while I am on my 30day ticket to New York. Listen to this. BWIA told me that on my 30 ticket, they will ensure I fly to Toronto for the one week but the total cost of the ticket will be US $1900. When I asked why a one week flight to Toronto will cost me US $1227, I was told this is the peak season, and BWIA can only purchase a 60 day ticket for me to Toronto. A check with my friends in New York revealed an entirely different story. Of course, no ticket in the world for such a short distance between New York and Ontario cost that fantastic amount. A Concorde flight from London to New York does not cost that amount. But guess what? I was a Guyanese calling from GUyana.