By NEIL HARTNELL

and FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporters

A Bahamian aviation operator is voicing concern that he and other airlines are being set up to get the blame if this nation is downgraded by US federal regulators following a recent audit.

Paul Aranha, principal of Trans-Island Airways and Trans International Airways, expressed surprise to Tribune Business that his company's name was called in a Bahamasair press release seeking to explain why the national flag carrier's latest Boeing 737 jet is not yet servicing its US routes.

Bahamasair, in a weekend statement carried by most local news outlets, said the newest addition to its fleet cannot be cleared to fly those routes until the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) "audit of all airline operators in The Bahamas servicing routes into the US" is completed.

"This involves not only Bahamasair but also our competitors, Trans International Airways and Western Air, which are all registered by Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB)," Bahamasair added. "This audit covers planes already in service.

"As a result, new additions to the fleet cannot be cleared until this process is completed. We anticipate this process to be completed shortly and the certification of the new aircraft to be addressed by FAA and its addition to our US bound fleet. Again, we reiterate that this policy affects not only Bahamasair, but all operators servicing the US market from The Bahamas and registered to CAAB."

Mr Aranha, though, blasted the Bahamasair release as "irresponsible" and "factually incorrect" because the FAA audit in question is focused on this nation's civil aviation regulatory and oversight regime, plus the quality of the legislation and legal framework that underpins it as well as how effectively it has been implemented.

He told this newspaper that, in contrast to the Bahamasair release, the FAA's focus is NOT on Bahamian aviation operators, airlines and their aircraft even though a downgrade from 'Category One' to 'Category Two' status would "kill" the ability of local industry players to expand in the US - the country's major visitor source market and trading partners.

"The FAA IASA audit happens every five to seven years," Mr Aranha said. "To fly to the US, expand routes or add additional planes you have to remain Category One. The audit does a couple of things. The primary purpose of the audit is to check the regulatory and oversight system of aviation, and the aviation legislation of The Bahamas, and make sure they are performing their duties....

"The Bahamasair release says the audit is taking place with Bahamasair and other operators, Western Air and Trans-Island. None of us are taking part in the audit. We were not involved in the audit. The audit had nothing to do with us. I speak to the FAA every single solitary day.

"They make it seem as if the operators got audited so that, if we get downgraded, it's on the operators and the operators have absolutely no power of influence in this space whatsoever. Bahamasair coming out and making a statement like that is irresponsible because it's not factually correct. It has nothing to do with the planes."

Research by Tribune Business showed that the FAA's IASA audit is designed to assess a country's compliance with "eight critical elements of effective aviation safety oversight" as detailed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the global regulatory standard setter.

These elements are identified as a country's legislative framework; aviation operating regulations; state civil aviation system and safety oversight functions; quality of technical personnel and their training; technical guidance and provision of safety information; licensing, certification and authorisation; surveillance; and how safety concerns are resolved.

Dr Kenneth Romer, The Bahamas' director of aviation, last week said he expects the FAA audit's findings to be released by the end of the month while there is an "action plan" in place to rectify any deficiencies identified.

He said: “We had an FAA audit. The head of our Civil Aviation Authority is still presenting the formal findings. So, we do now expect to have the formal document and assessment from the FAA by the end of this month. But there is an action plan as it relates to addressing any remedies we find as a result of this audit.”

Mr Aranha said the FAA IASA audit was announced on July 17, 2023, with the actual assessment taking place last year during the week of October 16 through to October 20. The initial results were supposed to be released within 60 days, but this timeline is now 90-plus days past the audit.

While CAAB officials will have been briefed by their FAA counterparts before the latter left, the Trans-Island proprietor said: "What happens is that they will issue their findings to the CAAB. Once they issue their formal findings to Civil Aviation, a downgrade does not take place at that point.

"It goes into a collaborative and consultative period where the FAA and CAAB work over the findings and come up with a concrete action plan. Depending on the outcome of the action plan, the country remains in Category One or gets downgraded to Category Two."

Spelling out the consequences for The Bahamas if the latter outcome were to happen, Mr Aranha said: "Basically it [Category Two] kills all potential for Bahamian aviation companies to grow. No new planes can be added to US operations, no new routes started by Bahamian companies.

"You get stuck in a suspended civil aviation world. The Mexican civil aviation authority got downgraded a few years ago, and it took them two years to come back up. The US is our number one market, and to have that taken away from us would be amazingly detrimental. It really would be a shame because our country spent so much money on consultants and hiring people from the US to do it."

Bahamasair, meanwhile, said that it will deploy its latest Boeing 737 on domestic and non-US international routes until the necessary clearance comes through. "In the interim, the new 737 jet has been certified by Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas to fly into non-US destinations," it added.

"This includes routes to Haiti, Turks & Caicos and Cuba. Additionally, the craft is certified to service all domestic routes within The Bahamas. Bahamasair remains committed to providing safe and efficient air travel services, and we look forward to the completion of the FAA audit process for the seamless inclusion of our new 737 into our US routes.

"In the meantime, we continue to provide uninterrupted service to our USA routes with other 737 and ATR equipment."