Bill Bohlke, Jr. had his first official flight lesson at the age of ten, soloed at 16 and started flying commercially at age 18. Bill worked with Trans Caribbean Airways flying co-pilot on a 727 at the age of 21. Bill retired in the fall of 2005 as an International 777 Captain with American Airlines after nearly 38 years of flying with AA. He has also been an FAA Flight Examiner since the age of 24, which at the time made him the youngest FAA Examiner in the southern region. Bill still holds his Examiner Designation and gives flight tests ranging from private thru airline transport. He now spends his time running the family business and flying charters in his MU2 Turbo-prop aircraft and Cessna Citation II Jet
Bill ( William Sr.'s son) and Tuddy Bohlke took over the operation in 1970 and added an FAA and VA approved flight school. In 1975 they added fuel sales and started Eastern Caribbean Airways providing scheduled service between St. Croix, St. Thomas and Nevis. In 1984, Bill and Tuddy sold the fueling business and continued a charter business based on St. Croix. After Hurricane Hugo left the charter business destroyed, Bill and Tuddy purchased the fueling business back from Dynair and re-built the charter business from scratch. During the purchase from Dynair, the Bohlke's took over the operation of the Texaco tank farm on St. Croix.
BIA currently has a staff of 26 employees and has been consistently rated in the top three Caribbean FBO's by Pro Pilot Magazine's Pilot Survey.




