Industrial action taken by air traffic controllers caused significant flight delays over the weekend, Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) Communications Manager Shonalee Johnson said yesterday.
"Departing flights were placed on hold today (Sunday), so what we saw was an average of between 30 to 50 minutes on departing flights as a result of their actions," Johnson explained.
She pointed out that the delays yesterday were generally longer than the ones on Saturday, which lasted on average 30 minutes.
U.S.-bound flights were the most impacted, she said, adding that flight delays and longer lines were the only issues reported so far.
President of Bahamas Air Traffic Controllers Union (BATCU) Roscoe Perpall said yesterday his members had slowed down their 'work to rule' efforts, however.
The union started work to rule last Tuesday, Perpall said.
According to Perpall, the union toned down its actions after speaking with Minister of Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace and State Minister for Finance Zhivargo Laing.
However, he said the union would not stop its work to rule until it reaches a favorable agreement with the government.
"The Bahamas Air Traffic Controllers Union members are disgruntled with the attention that we have received in recent months with the respect to the outstanding issues between ourselves and our employer, who is The Bahamas government," Perpall said.
He noted that those issues relate to an industrial agreement that expired in 2008, outstanding promotions and senior officers' salaries.
"The controllers union took a decision that we were left with no other recourse but to demonstrate our displeasure, especially considering that other agencies of the government are having their concerns addressed while our own remain unaddressed," he said.
Perpall said the union is considering the propositions presented by the ministers and is hopeful to have a meeting with the prime minister sometime this week.
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