As a member of International Civil Aviation Organization the Government of the Bahamas, through the CAAB, has Treaty and legal obligations to implement to protect lives and raise standards in AVIATION – MEMBERS OF THE WUTLESS MEDIA IN THE BAHAMAS DOES NOT KNOW THIS!
12 February 2025
Dear BP,
The Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas (CAAB) and its representatives have been discussing the new pilot examinations for a long time. As usual, the media has been less helpful. Rather than seeing the dangers the CAAB is trying to protect the public from, their narrative is that these requirements are somehow government overreach.
In a recent Tribune report, a spokesman said Bahamian pilots will today challenge a controversial aviation exam before the Supreme Court amid airline concerns that the test may impact operations and disrupt planned service expansion.
And there you have it: no mention of public safety, just a disruption related to planned service expansion. In other words, it’s really all about the money, not the safety of the flying public.
On 7 August 2014, Rod Rakic wrote in the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association magazine that “In aviation, we say that regulations are written in blood. Pilots often complain about regulations, but they generally recognise that those regulations are usually based on experience and events that have cost others their property, their lives, or both. We know that the legal environment of aviation often lags behind reality.”
Civil aviation is one of the safest modes of transportation because of the rules written in blood. In addition to conducting a root cause analysis of each aviation accident, an intense examination of pilot training and certifications, aircraft type qualifying, and health status is required.
So, for anyone to challenge the need to ensure that people transporting our loved ones by air must pass an assessment that indicates a heartless dangerous and cavalier approach to Bahamian lives.
As a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization the Government of the Bahamas, through the CAAB, has Treaty and legal obligations to implement:
1. TRAINAIR PLUS Programme: This program covers aviation safety and air navigation capacity and efficiency training.
2. IATA Training and Qualification Initiative: This initiative aims to harmonise a competency-based approach to training real skills for pilots.
3. ICAO Pilot Certifications: ICAO sets global standards for pilot licenses, and member states align their certification processes with these standards.
So, precisely what these public rantings are about other than a complaint about revenue losses is nonsense. Of course, a lack of suitably qualified pilots is an inconvenience the flying public would prefer to cope with rather than suffer death or injury from an incompetent.
Now, onto the other bit of nonsense, i.e. the Judicial Review. Good luck finding a court that agrees that the CAAB does not have statutory powers to regulate the Bahamas Civil Aviation sector.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brown
