The management of Bahamasair is under fire from the new board appointed by Prime Minister Perry Christie two months ago.
Already, the Assistant General Manager of Human Resources Oliver Hutcheson has been terminated after a number of discrepancies were found related to paid vacation and paid sick leave and accumulated overtime and vacation pay for staff.
Bahamasair General Manager Paul Major said Friday that he did not want to comment on the matter. He only said that, “There’s enough bad info out there so I don’t want to be fueling that in any way shape or form.”
However, Mr. Major did confirm that Mr. Hutcheson “was” director of HR.
The position of Mr. Major himself is uncertain as Prime Minister Perry Christie has asked the board to consider whether Mr. Major is the “right man for the job.”
Bahamas, meanwhile, on Friday was advertising for a Deputy General Manager with 15 years of experience in the business and a Chief Customer Services officer.
Basil Sands, Chairman of the Bahamasair Board, confirmed Friday that Mr. Hutcheson was fired, but he did not want to say why as he said the former Human Resources Director was dealing with his lawyers on the matter.
Mr. Sands said someone new has been appointed to replace Mr. Hutcheson, although he did not reveal the name.
He said, generally, he is satisfied with the work the board has been doing so far.
“I am very pleased with my board,” he said, “extremely pleased. They’re doing a fine job. All good things, we hope will happen for the airline.”
Information coming out of Bahamasair suggests that the board has its hands full.
It is estimated that the staff of Bahamasair received over $3 million over a short period of time in sick pay and accrued vacation pay.
In one instance, a member of the management team was owed $114,000 for accrued vacation.
In another instance, another manager was owed some $30,000, the Bahama Journal has learnt.
The board of the airline is reportedly investigating a number of practices of malfeasance and mal administration at the national flag carrier.
In one incident, a person was given 10 sick days off by a physician but took two days off. However, the employee was paid for those sick days in addition to regular time.
This practice has been going on at Bahamasair for some time, according to one source. In addition, members of staff have been paid overtime pay just to be on standby.
The cost of the operations of Bahamasair has escalated over the last three years and the deficit spending of the airline is getting progressively worse.
Bahamasair is also significantly overstaffed with the public treasury heavily subsidizing the financially-strapped airline.
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Utilities John Carey said recently that Bahamian taxpayers are spending $125,000 each day to keep the beleaguered airline airborne, a practice that he said is “ludicrous” and must no longer be tolerated.
“Employees at Bahamasair complain openly in frustration and despair about the poor leadership in management and management’s failure to move this airline in the right direction,” he said.
“The staff morale is at an all time low. The people of the Bahamas are ashamed of the performance of this airline and they wonder when and how Bahamasair and its management will get its act together and save us the national and international embarrassment that it inflicts on the image of our country.”
A source at Bahamasair says the level of frustration of the board with the operations of Bahamasair will cause the dismissal of other members of the management team in the not too distant future.
Works and Utilities Minister Bradley Roberts announced at his party’s national convention that Bahamasair’s new board is proposing pay cuts amounting to $1 million annually to bring management’s and pilots’ salaries in line with current industry standards.
The plan also involves approving early retirement packages for the 45 Bahamasair employees who are over the age of 55.
While staff morale is reported to be at an all time low, there is some evidence that Mr. Sands and his board are trying to improve it.
A memo to staff dated November 12 and signed by Mr. Sands said, “Management and staff, particularly those in the Maintenance and Engineering, Flight Operations and Customer Services are to be congratulated on the fine ‘on time’ performance Bahamasair experienced during September, October and so far in November this year.”
Against an industry reliability benchmark of 70 percent, Bahamasair achieved 72 percent on time performance in September, 70.5 percent in October and 72.5 percent in November, up to the 12.
The Bahama Journal
