By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE proposed restructuring of Bahamian aviation fees and charges must be “brutally open and honest” to prevent the industry suffering a “catastrophe” from operators being “put out of business”, an airline executive argued last night.

Anthony Hamilton, president of the Bahamas Association of Air Transport Operators, told Tribune Business that the upcoming public consultation over the Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas (CAA-B) planned reforms must embrace a “comprehensive” rather than “myopic” approach otherwise Bahamian operators working on already “slim margins” face being potentially “crippled”.

He added that, while the aviation regulator has yet to release the precise fee changes and extent of any increases ahead of the four November 2025 consultation meetings it has advertised with operators, the effort cannot solely focus on charges but must take into account the aviation industry’s wider needs.

“They’re seeking to overhaul the fee structure for civil aviation with regard to the services they provide,” Mr Hamilton told this newspaper. “They cannot be myopic. It must be comprehensive. They’re seeking to bring fees into play to make themselves self-sufficient. They’re having to run on their own weight.

“It can’t just be a fee-setting exercise. We have to be comprehensive. We have to be straight-talking, open and honest. We have to be brutal about it. The foreign element is benefiting more than we are in the industry, and we need to develop opportunities through a feeder system to encourage Bahamians to take ownership of, and responsibility for, the industry.

“We need the full gamut of all opportunities in the aviation industry to expose Bahamians, systematically and professionally, for them to take ownership. And it has to begin at an early age, not in the high schools when they are getting ready to graduate. We need the full gamut for them to experience all of aviation. We would otherwise end up importing talent into the country and lose the industry.”

The Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas, in advertising the public consultation, confirmed that it is reviewing a “restructure of charges and fees” and promised it will do so “in keeping with international best practices and our commitment to transparency”. The consultation dates are November 17, 21, 24 and 28.

But, reiterating that the consultation must encompass all issues impacting the Bahamian aviation industry and not just fees, Mr Hamilton identified one as the loss of “institutional knowledge” from the early retirements that have occurred in the sector - especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. “We cannot cherry pick. We have to look at the whole system otherwise operators will not be able to withstand the fees because they are already on slim margins. That will put some out of business and be a catastrophe,” he told Tribune Business.

“It just be a measured, guided and proportionate assessment. It may have to be phased. We cannot just jump on this otherwise it will cripple the industry.” Mr Hamilton, though, described the upcoming fee consultation with the civil aviation authorities as the sort of open, transparent dialogue that the private sector has been seeking for decades going back to the 20th century.

“It’s virgin territory, and we cannot be swayed by what other countries are doing in comparison with their fees to ours,” he argued. “We have to be specific to our jurisdiction, The Bahamas. The Bahamas is an archipelagic nation. We cannot compare apples with oranges; we have to compare apples with apples and oranges to oranges otherwise we will pay a devastating price and it will be a gross misuse of our resources.

“If we get this wrong there will be a devastating price to pay. We have to be very, very careful. When we look at the dollars and how they are distributed in the aviation industry, this is not done in a consistent and systematic way. Tom wants 80 percent, Jean wants 60 percent, and we are already behind. The operators are already behind and we are in the red.”

Mr Hamilton argued that the aviation industry must be examined in the context of the wider role it plays in the Bahamian economy, especially the vital connectivity and transportation it provides for Family Island tourism, in particular, and in emergencies such as the present Hurricane Melissa evacuations. He also called for “a balance” over Bahamasair’s hiring of pilots and other key personnel away from smaller domestic operators, adding that the former has a competitive advantage as a national flag carrier subsidised by the taxpayer.

The strategy had been for The Bahamas to finance its civil aviation regulatory regime through the implementation of its air services navigation charges, which were levied on aircraft both landing and taking-off in this nation as well as transiting its air space via overflights. 

However, this has been impacted by the objections of the US Department of Transportation and major American commercial and cargo carriers. The former raised concerns over the level of the fees being charged by The Bahamas, arguing that they were disproportionately high compared to the services this nation was providing, especially given that he Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was still managing the upper levels of Bahamian air space for ten years for a relatively modest annual sum.

The Bahamas Air Navigation Services Authority (BANSA) had earlier this year proposed a revised series of fees and charges that shifted the fee burden away from overflight fees - levies paid almost entirely by international carriers that fly through Bahamian air space without stopping in this nation - to the so-called origin/destination charges.

However, it also sought to make the fee rebalancing retroactive for the period May 2021 to end-July 2024. Sherrexcia ‘Rexy’ Rolle, Western Air’s president, chief executive and general counsel, clarified to Tribune Business that BANSA was demanding the carrier now pay an extra $2.4m over and above what it has already paid in air navigation services fees.

“BANSA is requesting $2.4m separate from what we have already paid to them, and separate from what was previously invoiced,” she said. “Thus it is not ‘$1.3m-plus’ increase. It is $2.4m they are requesting despite never invoicing or notifying of such charges.”

Based on the fact Western Air has already paid $1.1m in fees for the relevant period, May 2021 to end-July 2024, the additional $2.4m will take the total demand to around $3.5m - more than tripling its bill via a 218 percent increase. Similarly, fellow Bahamian carrier, Trans-Island Airways, has seen its bill more than triple and grow by almost 260 percent compared to the original for the same period.

The BANSA fee proposal, though, has not moved forward since those concerns and criticisms were raised and nothing further has been heard of it.