‘Common sense will prevail’ – Mizzi says discussions with pilots’ union well underway

With the 1 January deadline looming on the horizon, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi believes “common sense will prevail” in discussions concerning the collective agreements with Air Malta’s many employees.

“In order for us to continue to focus on revenue, be solvent and make a healthy profit, we cannot afford not to have these new collective agreements by the end of December,” Mizzi told The Malta Independent. “We have faith that common sense will prevail.”

Mizzi and Air Malta chairman Charles Mangion have often stressed that failure for the company to change direction would ultimately result in its insolvency, which would yield significant redundancies.

The minister revealed that discussions with the Air Malta Pilots Association (ALPA) were well underway, and that the airline had also begun its drive to engage individual pilots to go to Air Malta’s offices to see how their remuneration will be improved over the coming years.

He reiterated his belief that the company is offering a ‘fair deal’ to employees after providing them with a total 19% wage increase that would be spread over five years (1.5%, 5%,1.5%, 5%,1.5%).

Speaking at a media briefing concerning the collective agreements on 20 September, Mizzi said that the rise would see Air Malta’s payroll costs increase by €16 million, and in order to fund it, revenue would need to increase by €100 million.

The minister was also quick to stress that state aid and subsidies to Air Malta ended after the EU restructuring plan ended in 2016.

In order for the company to continue on its revenue-focused drive to save the company, Mizzi said, the airline needed to ensure that pilots, and other employees would begin to follow IASA international flight regulations. This would see pilots and cabin crew, in particular, subject to working increased and more flexible hours. Cabin crew, for example, would see a reduction from five to four staff on every flight.

However, sources close to the Air Malta pilots’ union had told this newsroom that it found the offer ‘unsatisfactory’.

Mizzi stressed that it was essential for the collective agreement to be concluded by the end of December; however, so far, only a hiving agreement with the GWU has been reached, which saw ground handling operations moved to a separate company wholly owned by the government.

The sections affected are the Ground Handling Service Operations Section, the Ground Equipment Maintenance Section, and the Cargo Operations section. The new company will provide services to Air Malta and other airlines.

The airline’s renewed focus on revenue has already begun to yield a significant improvement, Mizzi explained, with September experiencing a 15% increase when compared with the previous year.

“The ‘Go-Light’ product is also on its way to becoming a success, after 90,000 ‘Go-Light’ tickets were purchased within a week and a half.”

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