Turks & Caicos Islands Airports Authority

negotiations.When it comes to development and construction, that is the responsibility of the Airports Authority, as well. I always refer to it as: we are responsible for ‘sweating the assets’ on behalf of the government and people of the TCI.” BVC: What are the biggest challenges for the Turks & Caicos Airports Authority? Smith: “At times, procurement is one of the biggest challenges.We are an island country – everything is imported– and trying to get equipment here in a timely manner can be difficult. The other challenge we have is with our vehicles, mainly the fire engines, which are very costly. Operating in a salt environment, the rate of deterioration is much higher than elsewhere, and the replacement period is much shorter. That puts a challenge on the Authority because most of that equipment is laden with sensors.When you have a bit of corrosion, the equipment and vehicles start to have problems.We don’t yet have the depth of experience or certain technology skills within the island, so we have to find someone or bring someone in to solve the issues. To mitigate that, we’ve embarked on a comprehensive training program, although, that doesn’t make up for lack of experience on the equipment. “Our executive body must do a minimum of two professional development training programs per year and the technical staff are encouraged to do training, as well.We send them to Florida or the UK for Fire Services, or TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS AIRPORTS AUTHORITY PREFERRED VENDOR n Amadeus www.amadeus.com/airports Minnesota for Fire Vehicles, or wherever we need them to go. I’ve always accepted the costs of training, but I prefer not having to accept the costs of ignorance. Training I can budget for.” BVC: What would you say are the best attributes and accomplishments of the TCIAA? Smith: “It’s all about recovery, and that starts with our wonderful local staff; the turnaround from losing $3 million a year to generating revenues of $37 million; the focus on infrastructure development in the five aerodromes the Authority is responsible for; and working with Tourism partners, we were able to increase passenger numbers from 20,000 per month in 2007, to averaging 42,000 per month, at present. In 2007, there was a two or three month off-season trough period. Today, we don’t really have an off-season. “To indicate how the Authority works together, from an HR perspective, we still hold the record of four hours and seventeen minutes to get back in full operation at Providenciales International Airport following the passing of a category five storm.We boast about that, but quietly, because we all work as a family. Everyone knows what they have to do, and we get it done. I’m proud and happy about that, on behalf of the team, because we do operate as a team.”