On Thursday September 4, 1980 Guyanese welcomed the very first jet aircraft to fly for the national flag carrier Guyana Airways Corporation (GAC).
It was a historic period in the history of aviation in Guyana, a culmination of years of hard work by the pioneers of the aviation industry like Alex Phillips, Lanny Abrams, Robert Dornford, Roland Dasilva, George Loy, to name a few.
It was the beginning of GAC's international operation to North America and chartered VIP flights to Europe, also providing GAC's staff the opportunity of skill development in many areas of the aviation industry.
Below is the text from the Guyana Chronicle article of September 5, 1980 written by Wendella Patterson.
Cheering Crowd Greets Guyana’s First Jet – Guyana Chronicle, Friday, September 5, 1980
Guyana’s first jet aircraft touched down at Timehri International Airport at approximately 3:20 pm yesterday in brilliant sunshine to the admiration of a cheering crowd of more than 300 including top government officials.
The aircraft flew low over the airport and over Georgetown as a salute to the Guyanese Population.
Immediately after the touch down, the Boeing 737 was inspected by officials and the crew was welcomed by the Guyana Airways Corporation’s General Manager Mr. Bob Dornford, veteran City Councillor Claude Merriman, Executive Chairman for Guystac Utility Group Guy Perry, Executive Vice-President of Guystac Ossie Baptist, Chief Reservation Officer Pooran Naraine, Personnel Manager E. Daly and Director of Civil Aviation Robert Roberts.
The Jet, which is on lease to the GAC from Maersk Air of Denmark was piloted by Maersk’s Chief Pilot M. . Chan-a-Sue. Also on board were three air hostesses and one pilot instructor from Denmark.
According to Captain Anker, the flight was a very smooth and enjoyable one. He said that they took seven hours from Copenhagen to Canada. Then they flew to New York and Miami before coming to Guyana.
Captain Chan-a-Sue, GAC’s Chief Pilot, also said that the trip was a pleasant one and added that the jet was one of the most advanced and possessed very simple and modern devices.
He said that it has a time button and also one that can tell the speed of the wind.
Both Chan-a-Sue and Crawford were trained for three weeks in Denmark before flying to Canada where they did their initial training and familiarization with a similar aircraft.
Jein Dimon, the technical supervisor, also arrived on the flight and he will be responsible for the training of the local ground crew in Guyana.
GAC workers who were on hand to welcome the Boeing were extremely pleased with it, and considered having a larger and faster aircraft to make international flights an achievement. They displayed eagerness to make their first flight on the first GAC jet at the earliest possible opportunity.
One worker, Evert Jacobs, said that the arrival of the jet is only “a stepping stone to bigger things to come,” and pointed out that the workers are pleased to be on “side by side” with the management in welcoming the jet and crew.
The jet will make its first flight to Barbados on Monday under the normal schedule.