NASSAU, Bahamas, August 9, 2023 – Ryan Humes, a 30-year-old Bahamian First Officer with Delta Airlines, piloted his first Nassau-bound flight on Tuesday, August 8, 2023. Flight #1944 departed Atlanta at 9:45am, and touched down at LPIA at 12:53pm.
On hand to welcome the proud pilot, flight crew and passengers were The Bahamas Director of Aviation, Dr. Kenneth Romer; Humes’ parents Monique McFarlane-Bain and Peniel Bain; and officials from Delta Airlines, NAD and The Airport Authority.
According to Dr. Romer, “Notwithstanding Delta’s strong partnership with The Bahamas, what made this particular flight more special was to have a young Bahamian male as the Pilot-in-Command, proudly displaying our Bahamian flag and representing the many skilled and talented Bahamians making their contributions to the international aviation ecosystem.”
Humes’ proud mother, Monique McFarlane-Bain, recalls that her son, at 7 years old, “Made it his goal to fly for a major airline by the age of 30. He has returned to the place where his dreams were born”.
In July of this year, The Bahamas launched its first-ever National Aviation Strategic Plan, with one of the key components focused on enhancing human capital development. According to Dr. Romer, “We will ensure the optimization of industry talent through training and development and have established the Bahamas Aeronautical Training Institute to develop and support existing and emerging aviation professionals. We are already leveraging strategic partnerships with local and international stakeholders such as airlines and globally respected aviation training institutes”.
Captain Humes was born in Nassau. Upon completion of high school, he migrated to the United States with his father Carlos Humes, to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation from Liberty University and later pursued aviation training at ATP flight school, Atlanta. He has been employed with Delta Airlines for the past seven months. Prior to that he was captain with the US regional airline, Endeavor. He is a graduate of Xavier’s Lower School and St. John’s College.
Delta Airlines currently operates daily flight services into Nassau from Atlanta, Boston, LaGuardia and JFK, as well as daily services from Atlanta into Eleuthera, Exuma and Abaco.
