The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

THE launch of Aviation Week yesterday will give members of the Bahamian aviation industry the chance to collaborate and share knowledge, said Director of Aviation and Deputy Director General of Tourism Dr Kenneth Romer yesterday.

Speaking to the Tribune at yesterday’s opening ceremony, Mr Romer said this first Aviation Week will give the 4,000 employees across eight agencies in The Bahamas to come together.

He said: “So you will find that we have both international and domestic aviation stakeholders coming together. This is the first time this has been done in our 104-year history, since we had the first charter airline landing.

“This to us will represent a time to collaborate we have eight aviation agencies, over 4,000 employees that’s in The Bahamas, that excludes our regional and our global partners. So we come together we share best practices, knowledge sharing, we look at innovators in the aviation industry.”

He said that during the week, key industry contributors will be celebrated and discussions will be held about the Bahamas Aeronautical Academy and Aviation Cadets.

He said: “You’re going to find during the Aviation Week, we’re going to be highlighting some key persons, including for the first time Women in Aviation. We’re going to be celebrating those who have been retiring or those who are making significant contributions, those emerging aviators.

“During this week, we’re going to be having discussions about launching our first ever Bahamas Aeronautical Academy and our Aviation Cadets. We’re looking at the past, the present and the future of aviation. We’re going to celebrate all things aviation.”

He added that the Ministry will also commemorate persons that contributed to the Bahamas Aviation Industry over the past 104 years.

He said: “We’re going to collaborate with government to commemorate. Over the past 104 years, there are so many persons who have contributed towards aviation who are now forgotten - those legend Bahamasair pilots, retiring air traffic controllers, those who are working behind the scenes and at the forefront of driving our aviation industry.”

Dr Romer explained that in addition to launching the Aeronautical Academy and Aviation Cadets the ministry is working with current employees to develop their skills to address shortages in human capital.

He said the ministry held an aviation job fair in collaboration with Nassau Airport Development (NAD) last month.

He said: “One of the areas for our strategic plans speaks about human capital development. So for the first time we had an aviation industry job fair, held in September, by NAD.

“We went inside of our aviation industry and asked them great, so do you have the tools to make it successful? Are you the right fit? Are you in the right position? And we actually looked at giving them ways to explore personal and professional development.

“Universities came to The Bahamas organised by NAD, but beyond that, we have at least six other universities who are partnering with the Department of Aviation, not just for attracting new talent, but how do we now rescale existing talent.”

He added that with more than 4,000 employees, they need to develop the skills of existing employees instead of hiring more people.

He said: “That is one way we can systematically deal with the skills gap and with the talent gap. Over 4000 folks are employed, we don’t want to bring in more persons. We want to bring in the right individuals with the right skills to ensure that they’re doing the right tasks.”