Canceled flights, thousands of dollars in lost revenue and frustrated travelers could be the outlook for this upcoming Easter holiday weekend if executives of Bahamas Air Traffic Controllers Union (BATCU) and the government do not come to an agreement on working conditions.
Captain Randy Butler, CEO at SkyBahamas, confirmed to Guardian Business that if airport workers take industrial action this weekend, his airline would lose a significant amount of money.
"If they tell us in advance then we may have to cancel those flights and all of those flights are full and going into the U.S. So I would lose a significant amount of money," according to Butler.
"This weekend, we lost thousands of dollars because you are talking about fuel, overtime and all of these things. We're talking about a lot of good will that we're losing with our customers because they for the most part do not understand or tend to appreciate what is going on with the air traffic controllers, because they don't see a reason for this happening."
He noted that SkyBahamas lost thousands of dollars just last weekend alone after air traffic controllers took industrial action and caused significant flight delays, something Butler is strongly advising against.
"It was not a good weekend for us, especially on Saturday. While we understand and sympathize with the Air Traffic Controllers, we ask them to find alternative means of trying to negotiate with the government," Butler said.
"If they take industrial action this weekend, it's going to be catastrophic because we are just hanging by threads. At this point, any kind of industrial action would put us in a bad position."
Captain Butler revealed to Guardian Business that he met with the union's president Roscoe Perpall and encouraged both parties to come to the table and talk before significant damage is done to the country's aviation industry.
He further noted that the aviation industry is going to need some attention, if it is going to grow.
"If we say we are going to build a bridge to the Family Islands, then we need to use these carriers to do it and even spending the money to give credit for airline seats on the companion fly free. On a big weekend like this, they (fellow air carriers) will cancel the flights if they know ahead of time," he added.
BATCU President Roscoe Perpall indicated that industrial action is still on the table.
"Right now, if the government refuses to meet with us, discuss and try to resolve the outstanding issue, we would have no other recourse than to demonstrate our displeasure," he shared.
He noted that those issues relate to an industrial agreement that expired in 2008, outstanding promotions and senior officers' salaries.
Both parties are expected to meet sometime this week.

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