The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

More than 350 flights departing to the US from Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) were delayed during a 10-week period this summer due to problems at US Preclearance, a senior hotel executive yesterday acknowledging that while there had been improvement it was “not 100 per cent”.

The problems caused by the long queue times at US Preclearance have been quantified in the Bahamas Hotel Association’s (BHA) September 2012 newsletter, a copy of which has been seen by Tribune Business.

It reveals that in the period between June and mid-August 2012, apart from the US departure delays experienced by airlines - an average of around five delays per day - more than 250 passengers missed their flights due to US Preclearance hold-ups.

Disclosing that it had teamed up with the Ministry of Tourism to investigate the situation and “seek improvements”, the BHA will be all too-aware that LPIA is the last experience departing stopover visitors have of their stay in the Bahamas.

Long delays, and missed flights, will not do anything for final impressions of the Bahamas, and make departing Americans - who account for around 80 per cent of the Bahamas’ hotel-based visitors - less likely to either return or recommend a visit to this nation to a friend.

And, with the BHA newsletter suggesting a major reason for the US Preclearance delays is a “significant decline” in the number of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, what the hotel industry and Bahamian government are effectively saying is that Washington’s policies are having a major, negative impact on the Bahamas’ largest industry and private sector employer.

And, with passenger traffic at LPIA having increased by 10 per cent this year, the BHA - in a nod to the future - said the situation would be especially worrying if it continued into 20-14-2015, when a 30 per cent passenger volume increase was expected due to Baha Mar’s opening.

“With a growing number of complaints from airlines and travellers about the long queue times at the US Preclearance facility in Nassau, the BHA and the Ministry of Tourism have commenced a collaborative stakeholder effort to investigate the matter and seek improvements,” the hotel industry newsletter said.

“With over a 10 per cent growth in passenger traffic this year, and continued growth anticipated, along with a 30 per cent projected traffic increase when Baha Mar is completed, the matter requires both immediate, as well as, long-term resolution strategies.”

The BHA said both Obie Wilchcombe, minister of tourism, and Fred Mitchell, minister of foreign affairs, were working to find a solution, while US-based airlines were talking more directly to Washington.

“The problem is exacerbated by what is believed to be a significant decline in the number of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing officers from four years ago,” the BHA added.

“As traffic has increased following three soft years, the number of US CBP officers is believed to have decreased significantly and replacements have not been made.

“The problem started surfacing this past January and was apparent during holidays and peak travel periods with long queues, some reports showing more than two hours just to process passengers in the preclearance leg,” the hotel industry added.

“At that time, Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) and BHA began to advise US-bound travellers to arrive at the airport three hours before their scheduled departure time. It worsened in June, and between then and mid-August airlines reported over 350 flight delays and over 250 passengers missing flights.”

Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of external and government affairs, yesterday told Tribune Business that the resort developer was working with the BHA, NAD and US Customs “to try and come up with solutions to remedy that particular problem”.

“I don’t think it has been 100 per cent improved, but they’re very much aware of the concerns,” Mr Sands said of US Customs. “We’ve all been working together to resolve these issues. The situation is getting focused attention from multiple agencies, and the concerns have been brought to their attention.

“In fairness I think there’s been an improvement in recent times, but there’s a short-term, medium-term and long-term concern with this situation that has to be constantly monitored.”

Touching on the issue of US CBP staff shortages, Mr Sands said his understanding was that there were issues relating to budgetary constraints, replacing staff whose contracts were up, and lag times in doing so.

Noting just how important the LPIA facility was to the Bahamas’ tourism competitiveness, the Baha Mar executive said: “Preclearance is a significant advantage to the Bahamas as a tourist destination.

“We have to work diligently with the authorities on that side to ensure it can work, and that we are putting in place all the conditions to ensure it can work. It’s a major advantage to this destination.”

Acknowledging that the LPIA and Preclearance experience for departing visitors had to match their overall stay, Mr Sands said: “There’s no question that the airport experience has gone through a metamorphosis.

“The fact we have transformed the airport to a state-of-the-art facility offering state-of-the-art services, any experience that is less than expectations puts a damper on potential customers willing to recommend the Bahamas as a destination to return to.”

He added: “It’s important all the elements - not that one in isolation - of a visitor experience that is first class are at the highest level all the time.”

Mr Sands said US Preclearance was currently not experiencing the kind of delays seen previously, although the tourism industry is currently in its slowest period of the year.

He suggested the summer problems were exacerbated by the “peak summer travel season” for Bahamians, and the fact it was at 
“the height” of the vacation period for US CBP agents.

“But we have to collectively put focus on mitigating that in the future, especially with increased airlift and persons coming through that airport in three years to come,” Mr Sands warned.

While the issue of excessive delays at US Preclearance has been acknowledged before, this is the first time the problem has been quantified.

Vernice Walkine, NAD’s senior vice-president of marketing and communications, last month told Tribune Business that she “can’t necessarily disagree with anything” contained in a letter, sent to this newspaper by a disgruntled airline worker, in relation to the delays experienced by passengers in clearing US CBP at LPIA this summer.

The letter claimed that the Bahamas’ tourism reputation had suffered “major damage” as a result of passengers taking up to two hours to be processed at US pre-clearance, with some missing flights as airlines decided to take-off on time to save the thousands of dollars they were burning in fuel.