National carrier appoints 13 general managers

Air Malta has appointed 13 general managers who will form part of the second tier of the airline's organisational structure.

The new general managers have all been recruited from within the company and will be working under the direction of their respective chief officers.

Ernst Funk, Air Malta's CEO, said: "The selection of the general managers was conducted in exactly the same, fair and rigorous manner as that of the chief officers last year. The final selection board was made up of myself, a non-executive director and two chief officers".

"I have no doubt that in the same way that the chief officers have taken ownership of their vast responsibilities, are ensuring that we keep moving forward and have formed a strong team to meet the competitive challenges we are facing, the general managers will do likewise," he said.

The appointment of the general managers will lead to the creation of new units, the redesign of others, the elimination of some as well as the physical relocation of staff, Air Malta said.

The company has also decided to review two general manager positions, that of general manager ground handling services and that of general manager retail and product. In the interest of greater efficiency and effectiveness, Air Malta said, the responsibilities will be sub-divided between four yet to be appointed general managers.

An internal call for applications to fill the posts of general manager ground handling services, general manager passenger and cargo services, general manager e-business and retail and general manager corporate sales and product, was issued yesterday.

Four general manager positions were not filled internally and an external call for applications was made through the media. The short-listing process is currently underway and the initial interviews will be held in the coming weeks. This process should be concluded in about three months.

The general managers appointed are:

Paul Paris, general manager industry affairs; Joseph Bugeja, general manager network and fleet assets; Tonio Farrugia, general manager business planning; Brian Tortell, general manager marketing and PR; Anthony Tanti, general manager revenue accounting; Martin Azzopardi, general manager fuel and insurance; Stephanie Farrugia, general manager information systems;

Michael Buttigieg, general manager corporate services; Capt Joe Agius, general manager flight operations; Andrew Costa, general manager operations support; Joe Cauchi, general manager passenger sales; Aldo Borg, general manager pricing, revenue and capacity management, and Mark Camilleri, general manager charters.