TCA Handling

IV BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2 TCA HANDL ING AND FL IGHT SERV I CES service, at the right price for the leanest cost. That is becoming more difficult these days. The first two years following the onset of the COVID pandemic were difficult for the company and all residents of Turks and Caicos, a country that relies heavily on tourism for revenue. Fortunately, the country lifted many of its COVID restrictions faster than others in the Caribbean, and tourism is now thriving. According to TCA Handling Ground Operations Manager and Flight Dispatcher Owen Roberts, the schedule of American Airlines flights into Turks & Caicos increased by nearly 50 percent year- over-year in December 2022. American Airlines is one of two airlines that hires TCA Handling for full-service ground handling at the island’s only airport. The other airline client is Jet Blue which along with American Airlines comprises about 60 percent of Providenciales Airport’s airport traffic. This increased air traffic means more tourism dollars for Turks and Caicos, and more work for TCA Handling, which is challenged to keep up with demand in terms of staffing. This is especially true given many flights to the Caribbean have been diverted to Turks & Caicos in recent months because the country has lifted COVID restrictions at a faster rate. The good news is that this all leads to tremendous growth opportunities for the company, Roberts says. “We are in line for unprecedented tourism growth this year,” Roberts says. He and his colleagues are noticing even more of a shift toward leisure travel, rather than business or conference travel, probably because tourists from foreign countries are tired of having to stay at home after three years of closures, lockdowns, and virus surges. The airport is looking to add new carriers from other parts of Europe and Asia as well, which could lead to additional growth opportunities for the company. The growth of Airbnb, VRBO, and other online vacation rental websites has also helped the Turks and Caicos tourism industry. The country often struggled to have the number of hotel rooms required by visitors before those sites became