Bahamasair expects spat with US carriers to be resolved this week: CEO

Bahamasair’s CE Tracy Cooper expects a disagreement between the Bahamas government and US airlines about air traffic control fees to be resolved by the end of this week. The Nassau-based flag carrier appears to be caught in the crosshairs of the quarrel through no fault of its own, and Cooper tells FlightGlobal on 30 September that a solution to the problem could be imminent. “We are working with everything within our means to have a resolution,” Cooper says. “There are plenty of moving parts. And … we think that we’ll have an expected resolution.” On 12 September, US airline lobby group Airlines for America (A4A) had complained to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), alleging that the Bahamian government charges unreasonable air navigation service fees, violating the US-Bahamas air transport agreement. A4A urged the DOT, therefore, to take out punishment on Bahamasair, and to prohibit the government-owned flag carrier of the Bahamas from flying US routes – unless the government eliminates the alleged “excessive charges”. Specifically, A4A asked the DOT to hold up approval of Bahamasair’s pending request to renew its US operating authority, which it submitted in August. The row does not affect current routes that the airline flies, between Nassau and five US cities: Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Raleigh-Durham, Cooper says, as permission to fly into those destinations “should not change”.<br/>