NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) says it is “concerned” that the prolonged U.S. government shutdown could disrupt air travel during one of the country’s busiest tourism periods, warning that staffing shortages at major American airports are already causing flight delays and cancellations.
Jackson Weech, President of the BHTA, told Eyewitness News that the association is closely monitoring the situation as the industry heads into the Thanksgiving and Christmas travel rush.
“The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) continues to recognize the importance of ‘exceeding expectations’ as it pertains to occupancy and revenue forecasts for our end of year, as we begin the highly anticipated approach to busy season, given that, for many land-based, stopover-dependent tourism businesses, slow season was slower than anticipated,” said Weech.
He noted that the ongoing U.S. government shutdown is already having visible ripple effects on travel logistics.
“We continue to monitor the situation of the American government shutdown and the resultant impact on travel by staffing opportunities at a number of major US airports traffic control centers,” Weech explained. “Staffing shortages are having real-time consequences, including increased flight delays, some cancellations, and a noticeable increase of ground stops at some airports, therefore we are concerned as we approach one of our busiest business phases beginning with Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas and the New Year.”
Weech added that even non-U.S. travelers could feel the effects, given America’s control over large swaths of airspace.
“We are minded and aware that while some of our arrivals are not from the US, US ATC centers are responsible for wide swathes of airspace control across the continental US, coast to coast. Consequently, staffing shortages impact inbound and outbound aircraft movements from countries other than the US,” he said.
The BHTA president said the association has received assurances from the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) that local operations remain stable.
“While the shutdown has contributed to some flight delays into Nassau from key US gateways which, like other airports, NAD is carefully managing,” Weech said, “the USCBP station operating in Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau has been fully operational to date, so flight operations out of Nassau have not been impacted and airport operations in that regard have been normal.”
Weech expressed optimism that the matter will be resolved quickly.
“The BHTA remains hopeful that the US Government shutdown will be resolved soon so that regular air traffic operations can fully resume,” he said. “The United States is our most important source market, and sustained air connectivity is of primary importance to our nation’s economic activity.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced plans to reduce flight capacity by up to 10 percent at 40 major U.S. airports beginning Friday morning, a move expected to cut thousands of flights each day. The phased reductions, starting at 4 percent and increasing over time, will affect flights scheduled between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
