Bahamasair was forced to reaccommodate an "inordinate" number of passengers yesterday after its pilots withdrew their labor, according to Bahamasair's Senior Manager of Customer and Public Relations Phyllis Johnson.
The action comes as thousands of people are traveling during the busy Christmas season.
Bahamas Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) President Joseph Moxey denied the union instructed its members to go on strike.
Moxey said when the union informed its six to 10 pilots scheduled yesterday afternoon that it had reached an impasse with Bahamasair over its industrial agreement, they did not "feel well".
"That played with their mental psyche," he said. "Pilots can decide how they feel before they get onto an airplane.
"They were not up to it. We are stressed out to the max with this whole thing, and we are not prepared to strap into an airplane."
In a statement last night, Bahamasair said the "industrial action" of the BALPA affected all scheduled flights in the afternoon.
The country's flag carrier anticipated the situation would impact operations today.
"During the past six months Bahamasair and BALPA executives have been in cordial, respectful and cooperative discussions regarding a new labor agreement," Bahamasair said.
"This action took management totally by surprise.
"Executives of BALPA walked out of a contract negotiation meeting this morning at the Ministry of Labour where discussions regarding the salary structure for the new contract were taking place."
When contacted last night, Director of Labour Robert Farquharson confirmed that union executives walked out of a meeting shortly after 10 a.m.
He said negotiations are at a "stand still".
"Shortly after the meeting began the pilots decided to withdraw themselves from discussions," Farquharson told The Nassau Guardian.
"The minister (Labour Minister Shane Gibson) was invited to intervene and he is in the process of doing that now.
"Presently, there are ongoing discussions between the management of Bahamasair and the executives of the union."
Bahamasair said it is "gravely disappointed" the union took action.
The airline said management explained the union's counter proposal will be vetted by Gibson and Cabinet today.
Moxey claimed management was supposed to have a response to its counter proposal last week, but instead negotiators "played games and delayed".
Bahamasair called BALPA's action "unreasonable and unwarranted considering the fact that these pilots are the highest paid in the region".
"Management feels that the current salary proposal submitted to BALPA is reasonable and places their salaries that much further ahead of the salaries paid to other regional carriers, particularly state-owned airlines," read the statement.
"Bahamasair has consistently made strides to improve viability and efficiency since its inception in 1973.
"However, it has struggled in the face of unsustainable labor costs, which account for 44.6 percent of the airline's total revenue.
"[This] has made it challenging for the company to achieve financial success.
"This unfortunate situation is not the result of some reckless action by the board or management.
"We wish to invite the executives of BALPA to return to the bargaining table and resume negotiations to complete a new agreement in good faith."
The airline apologized for the delays.
"Bahamasair is cognizant that this is the height of our peak travel period and we will do the best we can to mitigate any further disruption to your holiday travel plans," Bahamasair said.
"Bahamasair wishes to extend its sincerest apologies to the traveling public for the inconvenience caused as a result of the industrial action undertaken by the executives and members of the Bahamas Airline Pilots Association."
Asked whether industrial action would continue today, Moxey said, "You never know. We will see what happens.
"This is a matter that has been going on for three to four years and it has not been resolved."
Moxey said seven to 10 domestic and four to six international flights were impacted yesterday afternoon.

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