The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The NASSAU Airport Development Company’s (NAD) chief executive yesterday warned that US budget cuts will impact US Customs & Border Control (USCBP) operations at the airport, raising the spectre of a repeat of last summer’s passenger ‘logjams’ in US pre-clearance.

Vernice Walkine, a guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Nassau, said NAD was working to address these challenges with USCBP, and committing some of its own staff in the pre-boarding areas to manage the queues.

“The fact of the matter is that the US government’s budget sequestration is going to have an impact on us whether we like it or not,” she said.

“We have already accepted that that is going to be a challenge because USCBP will not be able to authorise overtime for their officers. Their officers are also being told that they have until September to take 11 days vacation time or they will lose it, so there are a number of challenges ahead of us which we are addressing.

“We are working with US Customs to try and minimise the excessive queue times that a lot of passengers have been experiencing. They (USCBP) have their own constraints. A lot of governments have their constraints, but we are working on that,” Ms Walkine added.

“You can tell people you have to get to the airport even earlier. We are already telling people three hours. We really don’t want to tell people four hours, but it might come to that. The reality is if we are going to invite people to vacation with us, we have to tell them the truth about how they now have to depart so that they don’t get shocked.

“A lot of people are not aware that they have to clear US Customs when in Nassau, and that’s something we are addressing here as well. Upon their arrival we give them information about what to expect on their departure so they can plan accordingly.”

Last summer more than 350 flights departing to the US from Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) were delayed during a 10-week period due to problems at US pre-clearance. The problems caused were highlighted in a Bahamas Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) September 2012 newsletter, which revealed that in the period between June and mid-August, 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 pre-clearance hold-ups.

Recalling the issue, Ms Walkine said: “The problem at the time was that US Customs had a number of officers who were on vacation and all sorts of other reasons. They were not adequately staffed. They admitted that to us. They have since added more officers and the problem seems to have been minimised to the greatest degree possible.”

She added: “The challenge we continue to have is that most of our flights go out between 12-4pm. Very much like other airports everywhere, where you have that kind of peak demand period. You try to get your stakeholders to staff for the peak, but that’s not always easy because we don’t control their staffing.

“You’re stuck with the staff they have, and what we have done is to commit to have our concierge staff in the USCPB pre-boarding area to manage the queues, and that has helped tremendously.

“It’s still not perfect but one of the things we are doing is investing in an electronic call-up system for USCBP. It’s something they had requested, and it will then free up our concierge staff to do some other things. Since last summer we have not had that level of excruciating pain people have been complaining about, but it continues to be a challenge.”