The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has banned Delta Air Lines from operating B767-300ER N195DN (msn 28452) to Accra and advised the carrier to replace the aircraft with a newer one "as soon as practicable".
The decision was issued on August 19, 2022, following a string of technical issues affecting the 24.9-year-old Boeing widebody. The B767 had to return to New York JFK while flying to Prague Václav Havel on July 24. The flight to Accra was cancelled on the same day. N195DN departed for Ghana the day after but had to turn around and return to New York, reportedly due to a fuel imbalance. The same aircraft then had a mechanical issue prior to departure from Accra on August 1, which forced the airline to cancel the flight back to JFK. The B767 suffered mechanical issues again on August 13, prior to departure from JFK for Accra, although they did not result in a flight cancellation, rather only a delay.
"It was expected that after such a negative reportage, Delta Air Lines would have thoroughly investigated the issue... Rather, the aircraft was flown within the United States a number of times and then dispatched again to Accra, only for the problem to reoccur. The Authority finds this unacceptable," the GCAA said.
"As your ageing B767 fleet are of much concern to Ghanaian travellers, Delta Air Lines must put in place a plan to change the aircraft on the JFK-Accra-JFK route as soon as practicable," the regulator ordered.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Delta Air Lines operates forty-seven B767-300(ER)s, which are 26.5 years of age on average. The carrier did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.
