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VOLUME:115 No.84, MARCH 22ND, 2018
OBITUARIES &
RELIGION
36 PAGES
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER:$1
Why are We Letting hundreds of MiLLions of doLLars sLip through our fingers?
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER reveals how the former PLP Minister of Aviation & Transport allowed Foreign Airlines, U.S. Private Planes & Cargo Carriers to use our airspace ‘FREE OF CHARGE’ for years. Since 1973, every & Government has delegated authority to U.S. Federal Aeronautical Admin. (FAA) to provide high-altitude Air- Route Traffic Control (ATC) to our nation. In 2009, the FAA started AIRCRAFT FLIGHT TRACKS ILLUSTRATE HOW OUR NATION’S AIR-SPACE STRATEGICALLY STRADDLES KEY AIR-ROUTES charging ‘OVER-FLIGHT’ FEES to Bahamian and foreign carriers whose 511,000+FLIGHTS pass over the strategically located airspace of our Archipelagic State each year (re-designated as Miami Oceanic (ZMA)) on journeys between Miami, NYC, Orlando, Europe, Latin America, Central America or Caribbean without Parliament consent. Despite the U.S. Office of Inspector General stating in its December, 2017 audit that the FAA billed an astonishing ‘$800 MILLION’ in over-flight fees between 20062016; yet, our cash strapped Public Treasury has NEVER RECEIVED A PENNY. Even today, our politicians still allow U.S carriers and those flights which either take off or land in the USA - FREE USAGE - of our airspace; instead of CHARGING EVERY PLANE like the other 180 nations around the world? Nassau
Nassau & & Bahama Bahama Islands’ Nassau Islands’ Leading Leading Newspaper Newspaper
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THE THE TRIBUNE TRIBUNE
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THE TRIBUNE
SPECIAL REPORT‘Plane’ Negligence if Hundreds of Millions are Lost?
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WHO OWNS THE SOVEREIGN AIR-SPACE & SEAS OF OUR ARCHIPELAGIC STATE? WE DO! The Progressive Liberal Party Government of Sir Lynden Pindling agreed to the succession of the FAA’s air traffic control authority in 1975 which had been delegated to the US at the IACO special meeting in Cuba in 1952. For 33 consecutive years the PLP reaffirmed this authority, whilst failing to reinstitute any over-flight fees - similar to 180 other nations around the worldwhich The Bahamas had actually been charging 3 shillings for in an article dated December 14th, 1951. “claiming thatwe have regained our sovereignty of signed a historic agreement
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Despite claims by the former PLP Minister of Aviation & Transport Glenys Hanna Martin’s that this newspaper’s earlier investigation into her failure to conclude a revenue share agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was “bogus” and “false news”, the US Office of Inspector General’s recent audit concluded that the US Dept.of Transportation pocketed an astonishing $851 MILLION between 2006-2017 in ‘overflight’ fees; while our cash strapped Public Treasury has yet to receive a ‘penny’ of our share..
by getting the FAA to cease charging Bahamian carriers for the use our sovereign airspace after 11 years - which does not belong to the USA nor has it ever been delegated to with authority to do so – is such a distortion of the facts that it fails to address the founding tenant of the 1994 Chicago International Convention, “ is a joke claimed Capt Butler. “While one can delegate responsibility of the provision of air traffic control services over its territory does not derogate one’s sovereignty but, said state retains competency to exercise its legislative, administrative and judicial powers excusively within our national borders, continued Capt. Butler
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BACKGROUND & FAA’s REVENUE SHARE PROPOSAL WITH BAHAMAS
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FAA Needs To Enhance the Oversight and Management of Its Overf light Fee Program
Report No. FI2018011 December 11, 2017
EXPLOSIVE GROWTH WITH OPENING UP OF CUBA INFRASTRUCTURE, AIRSPACE & SAFETY CONCERNS
The FAA gained authority from Congress in 2000 to charge carriers “over-flight” fees for flights that traverse US airspace, FAA controlled airpace or that airspace delegated to the USA for administration of high-altitude air-traffic control - but neither land nor take off in the United Statesaccording to reports from the Government Accountability Office; U.S. Inspector General’s Office, Audits of the FAA; the Congressional Budget Office, FAA Office of Financial Controls and International Airline Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association
According to documents obtained by The Tribune In September of 2014, the Eastern Regional Task Group (ERTG) of the RTCA Tactical Operations Committee (TOC) met with FAA operational personnel from the Caribbean region to document existing issues and review historical trends. Notwithstanding that the fact that there is not a single Bahamian representative on this group, both FAA and industry personnel agreed that there are infrastructure and airspace issues in the region that need to be addressed to improve operations and safety. This premise is further supported by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) observations and recommendations issued in August 2012 in response to a safety incident in ZMA Oceanic ( Bahamian Sovereign Air-Space in July 2012) the FAA considered the issues raised by the ERTG and madea task request to the TOC to offer recommendations to improve Air Traffic Control (ATC) services and performance in the region. Such matters have taken on a new sense of urgency with the opening up of flights between Cuba and USA. It is estimated that 40,000 new flights will enter the crowded Sectors 40 & 60 of the Miami Oceanic East (ZMA) airspace; the majority of which lie inside our nations’ sovereign borders.
Since 2006, ATC Reform News states “the FAA applied this authority, without protest from the Bahamas government or the Ministry of Aviation & Transportation- to foreign carriers whose flights use our sovereign airspace (re-designated as Miami Oceanic ZMA and considered part of the US Enroute Airspace) and Bahamian carriers flying within our own Airspace.” The FAA actually submitted a revenue share proposal to the former Minister prior to joining 180 other countries around the world in charge “Enroute fees” to aircraft. This also included those carriers whose 511,000 flights -the FAA Eastern Reginal Task force- says pass through the sovereign, but FAA controlled airspace of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas on routes between Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, New York, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America Central America and Mexico. According to documents obtained exclusively by The People’s Paper, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) lamented that while the FAA presented The Bahamas Government with an “Air Navigation Service Provider Proposal in 2006…. no official dialog commenced until a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was convened in March 26th, 2014.”
BAHAMAS IS ONLY ONE OF A FEW NATIONS WHO DON’T CHARGE OVERFLIGHT FEES
Acording to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the negotiating genius of the PLP, we would not been able to avail ourselves of this practice of charging Over-flight fees for ATC related revenue; despite thousands of these flights passing through our sovereign, services is common within the internaFAA controlled, air-space each year.” tional community. In fact the FAA uses a flight flying from According to the Reason Foundation, Germany to Columbia as an example. The Bahamas is among the This flight would pass thro the airspace ranks of 20 generally poor nations - Lesotho, controlled by France, Namibia, Sao Tome, Somalia, Swaziland, Tongo, TuPortugal, the United States, the Nethvalu, Guyana, Kiribati, Gambia, Guinea, Benin, Brunei, Coerlands Antilles and Venezuela, in admoros- who are unable to charge cost effective over-flight dition to the airspace controlled by the countries of origin and fees due to their size and geographically location! That is despite the fact that destination, Germany and Columbia.’ That carrier would be charged ATC our archipelago straddles one of the most strategically important and prime fees by all these countries; with the exception of The Bahamas. Thanks to the geographical air-space / shipping corridors in the world; connecting Latin
'OVERFLIGHT' FEES WHICH (FAA) HAS BILLED BY FISCAL YEAR
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
ESTIMATE
ESTIMATE
% of Fliights UNKNOWN 50% 7% N/A 3%%
2017
2018
FOREIGN CARRIERS THAT USE AMERICAN AIRSPACE WITHOUT (LAND OR TAKEOFF) FROM USA US AIRLINES THAT USE BAHAMIAN AIRSPACE WHO (LAND AND/OR TAKEOFF) FROM USA FOREIGN CARRIERS THAT USE BAHAMIAN AIRSPACE WHO (LAND AND/OR TAKEOFF) FROM USA PRIVATE AIRCRAFT THAT USE BAHAMIAN AIRSPACE WHO (LAND AND/OR TAKEOFF) FROM USA CARGO CARRIERS THAT USE BAHAMIAN AIRSPACE WHO (LAND AND/OR TAKEOFF) FROM USA
$45,448,833.00 $49,236,999.00 $53,870,657.00 $52,853,306.00 FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE
$111,436,857.00 FREE FREE FREE FREE
$106,000,000.00 FREE FREE FREE FREE
$126,000,000.00 FREE FREE FREE FREE
TOTAL 'OVERFLIGHT FEES FROM FAA BILLINGS
$45,448,833.00 $94,685,832.00 $148,556,489.00 $201,409,795.00 $254,281,200.00 $311,869,190.00 $377,834,181.00 $451,303,449.00 $538,918,248.00 $643,800,894.00 $755,237,751.00
$861,237,751.00
$987,237,751.00
$52,871,405.00 $57,587,990.00 FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE
$65,964,991.00 $73,469,268.00 FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE
$87,614,799.00 $104,882,646.00 FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE
Source: FAA’s Air Traffic Organization and ESC billing office; OIG analysis &
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
511, 000+
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THE TRIBUNE THE TRIBUNE
How much are other countries making from ‘over-flight’ fees?
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In order to gain some sort of benchmark it may
be useful to take a look at what other nations are charging for comparable levels of traffic in other key geographical locations around the world. It is interesting to note that according to an article in the Express Tribune of Pakistan top officials in Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority have been charged with ‘criminal neglect’ for failing to charge over- flight fees to any of the foreign air carriers who have used its airspace since 2002; to which it was entitled to under international civil aviation laws. HOW MUCH IS OUR STRATEGIC AIRSPACE REALLY WORTH? YOU DECIDE! GEOGRAPHIC IMPORTANCE
DAILY OVER-FLIGHTS
COUNTRY SRI LANKA
Marginal Location
100
AFGHANISTAN UKRAINE *
Fair Location / Internal Conflict & Volatility Supposed Safe Corridor to Asia
N/A 150
IRAN IRELAND PAKISTAN SIBERIA BAHAMAS**
Strategic Location / Key Corridor in Middle East Straddles Key Transatlantic Routes to Europe/USA Strategic Location / Key Corridor Strategic Location / Key Polar Route Europe/Asia Straddles Routes U.S., Cuba, Caribbean & Latin America
UNITED STATES
Global Superpower / Key Financial & Economic Hub
USD YEARLY REVENUE
$10 MILLION $33 MILLION $200 MILLION $237 MILLION $173 MILLION
350 871+ N/A 600+
FAILED TO BILL
$511 MILLION NOTHING
1,342 THOUSANDS
UNDETERMINED
* Air Space Corridor Closed after Missile Attack on Malaysia Flight #17 / ** Source: FAA Eastern Regional Task Force Report 2015
On a final note. If the Russians can threaten to force European airlines to fly around Siberia........
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....then it’s only fair that when the European Union ‘blacklists’ The Bahamas we force European airlines to fly around our strategic, sovereign airspace as well. Just imagine, if we were a nuclear superpower!!