Significant flight delays are being reported at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) as the radar undergoes major repairs.
With the radar down, staff at LPIA are relying on pilot reports from other airlines to guide the carriers into Nassau, according to Roscoe Perpall, president of the Bahamas Air Traffic Controllers Union (BATCU). The process is less exact and takes more time, he explained, leading to delays for thousands of tourists.
The radar blackout is expected to last into Friday.
"The radar in Nassau is currently down and undergoing major repairs, it will be out for long periods of time during the daytime hours. The FAA has sent in a team of experts to assist in fixing the problem," Perpall said.
"There are two motors that need to be replaced. As a result of the radar being down, you can expect significant delays at the airport due to us having to use procedure control. There have already been significant delays in some cases for up to an hour and a half."
Officials at the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) also confirmed to Guardian Business that LPIA has been experiencing some delays as a result of the radar being out of service for maintenance purposes.
"We are experiencing some delays as a result of the radar being out of service for maintenance," Shonalee Johnson, NAD's communications manager revealed.
"According to the reports that we have been receiving, planes have been delayed on the runway as well as the aprons for up to an hour, and sometimes more than an hour. We are devising a plan to mitigate the impact of the delays by ground."
Captain Randy Butler, the CEO of SkyBahamas, said his airline experienced delays of up to two hours, "which is impacting business in a big way".
While he agrees the radar needs maintenance, Butler felt it could be done at a more efficient time so there is less disruption at LPIA. He suggested more work should be done in the nighttime.
"Usually, the airport goes quiet anytime after 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m., and there is still some light and if they were to do that, we would be much obliged," he told Guardian Business.
Meanwhile, the downed radar elevated the need to purchase new equipment. Perpall told Guardian Business that the airport is now accepting bids. He noted that anywhere from $15 million to $17 million has been earmarked for the radar out of the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) $50 million loan for works at the airport.
The BATCU chief added that a new radar was one of several issues that were addressed with Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham when the union met with him less than a month ago.
During those meetings, Perpall said the prime minister committed to addressing some of those issues related to the union's current industrial agreement.
"He indicated to us that he is not prepared at this time to continue negotiations on the proposal that was being discussed, but he would honor those commitments out of the industrial agreement that we continue to operate under to date," said Perpall.
Another issue facing the BATCU is the outstanding funds owed to its members. However, Perpall told Guardian Business that this matter is being addressed.
"Some monies were owed to the controllers and were supposed to be paid at the end of April. Those funds were not paid out. We met with the union on Monday night to discuss our actions going forward," he added.
"We were assured that the funds will be paid out to them before the weekend. Right now, we are just awaiting those outstanding payments. I think it might be in the vicinity of $250,000."
Perpall said that while his union was not happy with the prime minister's attitude towards negotiations, the fight will continue to get an industrial agreement signed and registered.
"The prime minister said he wasn't prepared to do that at this time and would reconsider after the election campaign is over. We are hoping to achieve an amicable solution in some way, so we will continue to work with them," Perpall explained.
"We decided that we will continue to fight towards trying to get those items in the industrial agreement that have been outstanding resolved, and hopefully at the end of the day have the industrial agreement signed and registered."

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