Mr. Major, however, told The Bahama Journal on Tuesday that he was resigning to pursue other interests. He said he was not in a position to comment on the matter further.
Chairman of Bahamasair Basil Sands said the board will “in short order” make a statement on the managing director’s departure from the national flag carrier.
Mr. Sands also said Mr. Major did not renew his contract because he wants to pursue his own personal goals.
He said Mr. Major’s contract expired on Tuesday and Mr. Major confirmed to The Bahama Journal that Tuesday was his last day at the airline.
Mr. Sands also confirmed that Henry Woods, who was the deputy general manager of operations, has been appointed acting general manager.
The Bahamasair chairman said, “Mr. Major will be available to Mr. Woods on a short term basis for a transitional period.”
Mr. Woods, a qualified aircraft engineer, worked with Bahamasair from June 1973 until November 1992 becoming director of operations in August 1987 and executive director of maintenance and engineering in 1990.
After his departure from the airline, Mr. Woods returned years later.
His appointment now as acting managing director is raising eyebrows at the airline, which is said to already be suffering from low morale.
Mr. Woods was cited in the Commission of Inquiry in 1995, with commissioners recommending that “investigations should be instituted into the conduct of Mr. Woods in relation to alleged kickbacks and improper use of [Bahamasair’s] resources.”
When questioned about the use of Bahamasair maintenance personnel on one occasion for assisting with construction work on his own building he was erecting in Nassau, Mr. Woods admitted that he had done this and that it was an “improper way of using Bahamasair’s personnel.”
The Commission also determined that Mr. Woods’ slapping of another employee and other unchallenged instances of friction and strained relations between the two “show his lack of restraint and an unfortunate management style.”
“He was a senior manager in the company when he utilized company resources for his own personal endeavors on company time and at no cost to himself. The unethical stance manifested in these acts, which he admitted, is mitigated only in small degree by his admission several years later that he had done so and that such conduct was ‘improper’,” the Commission’s report said.
Sources have reported that Mr. Major is expected to soon take up a position at the Water and Sewerage Corporation which is in turmoil because of friction between its chairman and general manager.
The Bahama Journal has learnt that Mr. Major had requested a further extension of his contract, which was renewed before under the Christie Administration, but the majority of the Bahamasair Board rejected this request.
The Board is reportedly of the view that the airline has shown no marked improvements under the former managing director, with the airline in fact having suffered some humiliating experiences in recent times.
While on a Love 97 programme last year, Mr. Major said that without ongoing government subsidy, Bahamasair would have to go out of business.
Minister of Works and Utilities Bradley Roberts had indicated that the airline would have been privatized by last July, but that never happened.
However, the board now has in hand the $1 million report from McKinsey and Co., the consultancy firm the government had hired to examine how best to prepare the airline for privatization.
Addressing his party’s convention last November, Mr. Roberts reported that the airline’s losses for 2005 were projected to be $18 million or $7 million worse than the year before, mainly due to high fuel costs and competition from low-cost carriers.
Source: The Bahama Journal
