By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian airmen and this nation's aviation regulator have settled their dispute over the newly-mandated 'air law' exam that some feared would spark a pilot shortage and damage the local industry.

The terms of the agreement between the Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas (CAAB) and the Bahamas Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (BAOPA) are set out in a May 29, 2025, 'consent Order' that was approved by Supreme Court justice, Leif Farquharson KC, and their respective attorneys.

The Order, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, appears to give the Association - and its estimated 100 pilot and aircraft owner members - much of what it was seeking without compromising the Authority's position that all Bahamian aviators must take the 'air law' exam in order for their licences to be validated.

In return for the Association withdrawing its Judicial Review challenge, which named the Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas, the Attorney General and minister of tourism, investments and aviation as defendants, the Authority has pledged to issue a "new notice to airmen" detailing the revised air law exam requirements.

The Order stipulates that all Bahamian pilots and Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas "licence/validation holders, who have not sat and passed the air law exam at the time of expiration of their licence/validation", will now have their licences extended until year-end December 31, 2025, once they apply for this to the regulator. The previous deadline to take and pass the exam had been June 1.

This will give them more time to study for, and pass, the exam, and the settlement also requires pilots to "attend a mandatory seminar" on civil aviation regulations and licensing, then register for and take what will now be an "open book exam". The seminar and exam will be "available on or before August 31, 2025.

And the exam will have a revised format with "content based on Bahamian regulations". The Bahamian content, extra time and "open book exam", were key demands of the fledgling Bahamas Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (BAOPA) which, within less than a year of its September 18, 2024, formation, appears to have obtained several concessions from the regulatory authority.

The 'consent Order' stipulates that the exam will be taken at the regulator's offices, and be rolled out in digital format come January 2026. "Once a candidate successfully passes the exam, they will not be required to sit any future exams for licensing/validation purposes," the settlement stipulates, while preserving the Authority's stance that taking the test is "non-negotiable" for Bahamian pilots.

Both sides appeared to be tight-lipped on the settlement, and its impact for Bahamian aviation, pilots and regulation moving forward. Neither Mornel Brown, the Association's president, nor Drexel Munroe, its secretary, returned multiple Tribune Business messages and calls seeking comment.

Devard Francis, the Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas chairman, referred this newspaper to Darren Bain, the attorney who represented it in the Judicial Review proceedings. Mr Bain, in response to inquiries, messaged that he would have to take instructions from the Authority, his client, and no reply was received before press time.

However, legal documents filed with the Supreme Court earlier this year that have been obtained by Tribune Business set out both sides' respective positions. The Association argued that the Authority had created a "reasonable expectation" that it would consult with itself and its members before implementing the 'air law' exam, but failed to "discharge its duty" as a public body to do so.

It also claimed that the exam's original content and structure held "jurisdictional irrelevance" because it was not sufficiently based on the conditions and regulations pilots will encounter in The Bahamas, instead including questions on take-offs and landings at London's Heathrow airport and flying through volcanic ash.

The Association also said the 75 percent grade required to pass the 'air law' exam was "an irrational high bar", and also challenged whether the Authority had complied with the National Accreditation and Equivalency Council of The Bahamas Act 2007 as it had produced no proof that the exam had been accredited, registered and recognised by that body.

The Authority, though, hit back by asserting that the Civil Aviation Act of The Bahamas Act 2021, as well as its accompanying regulations and the global Chicago Convention on civil aviation, gave it the necessary legal authority to test airmen's knowledge by imposing the 'air law' exam.

And it warned that not imposing such a test on Bahamian pilots "exposes a country to serious risks", including the possibility that this nation would be downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European regulators, and also suffer International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) findings, resulting in "economic harm to its aviation industry".

Chequita Johnson, the Authority's deputy director-general, in an April 4, 2025, affidavit warned "there is no 'wiggle room'" when it comes to ensuring compliance with national aviation regulations for Bahamian pilots seeking to have their FAA and other licences converted, or validated, in this nation.

Mr Brown, the Association's president, said his members and all pilots first discovered the Authority's 'air law' exam plans when it issued a notice on April 17, 2024. "Despite the fact that CAAB posted notice of its decision, it subsequently promised and committed itself in the public domain to consultation with stakeholders of the civil aviation community," he added.

"And confirmed publicly that it had voluntarily embarked on a stakeholder consultation course of action. The individual members of BAOPA held out a reasonable expectation that the CAAB would discharge its public duty to consult with them."

The deadline to take and pass the 'air law' exam was first extended to end-January 2025, then to June 1, 2025. Mr Brown noted that, in unveiling the latter move, Alexander Ferguson, the Authority's director-general, said for the first time that passing this exam was "non-negotiable".

He added: "Any declaration that any aspect of an administrative decision is non-negotiable flies in the face of the duty to consult and makes a mockery of this right vested in BAOPA, as stakeholders of the civil aviation community."

Noting that The Bahamas is not an "issuing state", which issues pilot licences, but instead "validates" those obtained from other countries such as the US, Mr Brown added that pilots had "found it onerous to source study guides and have been given inadequate time to prepare", in effect having to act as both student and teacher while still working full-time.

"The passing grade upon which the future of every member of BAOPA rests is 75 percent," Mr Brown asserted. "To the best of my knowledge, information or belief there are no standardised tests or professional exams in The Bahamas where a 74 percent is a failing mark, despite possessing practical skills to operate an aircraft in The Bahamas, which the CAAB does not dispute.

"The air law is already loaded with questions which are foreign or unknown, and/or irrelevant to civil aviation in The Bahamas and the region. To make this passing mark 75 percent is an irrational high bar in all circumstances.

"Coupled with the volumes of study materials provided by the CAAB, and the fact that this is required to be self-study, the only possible conclusion is that the CAAB is trying to sabotage the careers of certain Bahamian pilots and operators....," Mr Brown blasted. "The members of the BAOPA and the aviation industry as a whole could face a crisis should too few pilots pass the exam by June 1, 2025."

However, Mr Ferguson, the Authority's director-general, in an April 30, 2025, affidavit argued that the Judicial Review action was "premature" and the Association's arguments "incorrect". He added that the exam was "not to prevent any airmen from working or conducting business" but, rather, to ensure they understood the regulatory framework that governs passenger safety.

Noting that 28, out of 30, Bahamasair pilots had taken and passed the exam, generating a 90 percent pass rate, Mr Ferguson added: "To-date, 83 exams have been sat with 59 passes. This represents a 71 percent pass rate." To improve this, he added that the Authority was setting up a training course free-of-charge for the aviation sector.