Local carriers 'biting hand that feeds them'

Thu, Nov 3rd 2011, 10:27 AM

The Minister of Tourism and Aviation says local carriers are "biting the hand that feeds them" by complaining about the lack of support from the government, insisting it is doing all it can to promote the industry.
Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace told Guardian Business the only way to develop the Family Islands is for local airlines to focus on internal flights, lower their costs and provide a high-quality service - an endeavor he continues to support.
"They don't understand what we are doing on their behalf," he explained.
"They can yell and scream all they want. We believe strongly in developing our local carriers."
The comments follow an ongoing dispute between Skybahamas and Minister of Tourism.
Randy Butler, the CEO of Skybahamas, has been increasingly critical and vocal concerning what he feels is preferential treatment for foreign carriers now offering direct flights to a variety of destinations in the Family Islands.
Vision Air, for example, is now offering $1 direct flights from several U.S. locations, which have been made possible through partnerships with the government and private stakeholders on the islands.
Gulfstream International, which is also in the process of ramping up its flights ahead of the winter season, has also benefited from government collaboration.
Vanderpool-Wallace said one of the major stumbling blocks preventing local carriers from effectively providing direct service from the U.S. is the Global Distribution System (GDS).
Most local carriers, he said, are not on this database to facilitate easy travel between airports and locations.
Meanwhile, the government has supported various initiatives to promote domestic travel to the islands for local carriers, he pointed out, including the buy-one-get-one-free offers.
On the whole, Butler said the companion deal is not effective when promoting their business.
High hotel costs and food prevent many Bahamians from travelling to the family islands, making the promotion less appealing.
"There is a nearsightedness and a lack of strategic planning for the whole industry," he felt.
In regards to the GDS, "investment in that makes no sense", he added. With the proliferation of the internet, he said there was no excuse in terms of the visibility of the airline and the services it offers.
"Fact number two," he said, "is if you're promoting the foreign airlines to go directly to the Family Islands, there is no room for domestic carriers. Why would we invest in it? It would only make sense if they all came to Nassau and then we distributed them to the Family Islands."
With this in mind, Butler argued that focusing on domestic service to the Family Islands was not a practical or lucrative piece of the aviation pie.
Another bone of contention is the licensing of foreign carriers.
Last week, Guardian Business revealed two foreign carriers lacked the proper certification to advertise their fares ahead of the winter season - a fact that was confirmed by the Department of Aviation.
Ormond Russell, the operations officer, said airlines should have this licensing before advertising fares.
Responding to the apparently discrepancy, Vanderpool-Wallace said it's "normal" for the carriers to advertise ahead of certification and an "asterisk was missed somewhere".
Since the report, the minister said one airline had received its certification and the other had signed a promotional agreement.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

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