Fleet restructure takes Bahamasair 'backwards to '91'
Published On: Friday, April 30, 2010
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
AIRLINE pilots yesterday criticised Bahamasair's proposed fleet restructuring as taking the airline "back to 1991" and converting it into a "regional turbo prop carrier", suggesting to Tribune Business that the plans were incompatible with the Board's intention to increase market share in the tourism travel category.
Emil Saunders, president of the Bahamas Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), told this newspaper that the organisation was "not pleased" with the fleet restructuring plan as presented to them in a December 2009 meeting with Bahamasair's Board and its chairman, J. Barrie Farrington.
He said the plan shown to them was to replace Bahamasair's two existing Boeing 737-200 jets with four Q-400 turbo prop aircraft, manufactured by Bombardier, which recently trialled and publicised them in Nassau.
The national flag carrier's remaining fleet, the five Dash-800s, were also to
