The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A prominent Bahamian-owned airline yesterday expressed concern that Tropical Storm Erika could “wipe out” summer profits if it closes this nation’s airspace for two days.

Captain Randy Butler, Sky Bahamas’ chief executive, told Tribune Business that many local airlines “could not afford a storm” and the bar on flying that it imposes because industry profit margins are “so thin”.

Anticipating that Tropical Storm Erika would result in flight cancellations on both Saturday and Sunday, Captain Butler said: “You’re talking about two days.

“If this goes two days it would have wiped out any contribution to profits we might have made in the summer.”

Pointing out that Sky Bahamas still had to pay its staff even when planes were grounded, Captain Butler reiterated: “We’re hoping that it’s a minimum of two days that are impacted. That’s going to be critical.

“We hope this is the storm for the year. We’ve planned to go through the calendar year with just five days out due to weather.

“I don’t think any companies can afford a storm because the line is so thin. The profit margin is thin. Like everyone, in most cases we’re keeping things going, but you’re stagnated from expanding because you don’t know what plans the Government is going to implement.”

Captain Butler said Sky Bahamas had already seen international passengers “cancel some reservations” on its flights to Cat Island and Exuma this weekend as a result of Erika’s approach.

He added that Sky Bahamas had readied its storm contingency plan, and would move its aircraft in accordance with which direction Erika took.

“We’re looking to see where it goes. If it goes north to Florida, we’ll go south to Cuba. If it goes south, we’ll go north,” Captain Butler said.

He suggested that flights to and from the southern Bahamas would likely cease by this evening, while flying at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) usually ceased when wind speeds reached 40 knots.

“Based on what we’re seeing now, it looks like flights will be affected from Saturday,” Captain Butler said.

In preparation, he explained that Sky Bahamas would have to take down its communication antennas and “lock down” its hangar.

And the airline would not compromise passenger safety and comfort by flying before the weather conditions improved, given the dangers posed by flooded runways and tail and crosswinds.

While Sky Bahamas had enjoyed “a good summer with no interruption” until now, he explained that financial indicators had not truly improved due to ever-increasing Government and industry-related taxes/fees, and other operating costs.

Disclosing that summer load factors for Sky Bahamas were flat compared to 2014 at between 61-64 per cent, Captain Butler said: “We didn’t see any rise in load compared to last year.

“What we had to do was cut some costs. We had to cut the flights from Nassau direct to Fort Lauderdale. We had to stop it completely. We go now from Bimini and Marsh Harbour.

“You have to be creative just to stay alive. Where we can, increase the price if we can offer more to the customer.”