American Airlines steps up operations in Ghana

American Airlines has relaunched its services in the country with a training workshop for travel and tour operators to give them a better understanding of the airline’s operations.
The airline is operating an offline office in Ghana as a member of the Oneworld carriers alliance. An offline office means the carrier will not operate a direct flight from Ghana but will rely on its partner airlines that fly into the country, such as British Airways.
The Country Director, Mr Ekow Paintsil, told the Daily Graphic in an interview after a presentation at the workshop that the events of September 11 had affected the operations of the airline worldwide and called for such strategic partnerships and alliances for survival.
“As one of the world’s biggest airlines, we need to position ourselves and prove our worth in the industry in times of difficulty”.
Mr Paintsil said the offline office in Ghana served as the hub of other West African countries stretching from Senegal to Angola.
“Management decided on the relaunch with its accompanying innovations and changes to recapture its markets in the airline industry,” he added.
American Airlines flies more than 250,000 people a day to over 250 cities in 40 countries. That, he said, was made possible by the combined effort of the Oneworld alliance and other airline partners, adding “our total network includes more than 800 destinations worldwide.”
The other presenter at the workshop, Mr Joseph Abbey Mensal, told Daily Graphic in an interview that the relaunch was necessary to reassure their clients of their commitment to serve them better.
“We have for sometime in the past lost contact with our most cherished customers; we think it is important to re-establish link with them,” he emphasised.