Four Bahamasair pilots laid off

Mon, Jan 5th 2015, 12:24 AM

Bahamasair has laid four pilots, The Nassau Guardian can confirm.
The firings happened on Friday.
When contacted yesterday, Bahamasair Chairman Valentine Grimes said the notices were given due to the fact that the airline no longer has one of its Dash 8 aircraft in service.
The layoffs came nearly two weeks after Bahamasair pilots engaged in a two-day sickout.
Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis warned on Thursday that the pilots' action could also lead to dismissals.
Davis confirmed that they will also face pay cuts for the days they refused to work.
"[There will] definitely be repercussions," he said.
"What will happen is they ought not to be paid for the two days and if we find that there's any conduct by the pilots that is a fundamental breach of their employment arrangement with the company they will be dismissed," he said.
The pilots staged the sickout on December 22 and 23 at the height of holiday travel.
The pilots' action resulted in massive flight delays and cost the airline close to $1 million, officials said.
Davis called the action "wicked".
"Unfortunately, the Bahamian people are exposed to a liability of over $750,000 and mounting, and I don't think it would be fair for them to have to bear that kind of cost because of the wicked acts and the conduct of the pilots," he said.
"The challenge we have had and which is disappointing to me as well is that I met with the unions of Bahamasair, the management union, the pilots union and the line staff union, and I explained to them that the Bahamian people can no longer afford to subsidize Bahamasair in the way [they] did, for several reasons: One, 46 percent of revenue goes to salary when the industry norm is at least 25 percent.
"I asked them to...discuss how they could help me bring it down."
Based on Bahamasair's salary scale, Dash 8 first officers make between $34,070 and $49,370 and first officers of jets make between $47,209 and $65,209.
Dash 8 pilots make between $63,646 and $91,246 and jet captains make $98,316 to $131,916.
In addition, jet captains reportedly earn approximately $25,000 in overtime and Dash 8 captains earn $12,000 to $15,000 in overtime.
In its proposal to the government, the Bahamas Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) demanded what would effectively amount to a seven percent increase over a five-year period, according to a document The Nassau Guardian obtained.
Bahamasair's proposal would increase the salaries of captains and first officers by 3.7 percent over five years.
Davis said the offer is now off the table.
"We have to start over," he said.
He said Minister of Labour Shane Gibson hopes to meet the pilots today or tomorrow.
In a previous statement, Davis said Bahamasair is "no longer an essential service".
He suggested that industrial action by those pilots lit a fire under the government to rid itself of Bahamasair completely.
Davis said while the government is not eyeing any companies currently, Bahamasair's board is looking into it.
"I've told the board and the negotiation team will be guided by what I said in the statement," he said.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads