Mangion blames government for Air Malta's ills

The government does not know the first thing about accountability, Labour Party deputy leader Charles Mangion said yesterday in reference to recent statements by the government on Air Malta.

Speaking at a party activity in Zebbug, Dr Mangion, deputy leader for parliamentary affairs, said that three years ago the Prime Minister had trumpeted the so-called three-year rescue plan, which was meant to bring Air Malta back on its feet.

The government had asked workers to carry part of the burden of the airline's bad financial situation, which, he emphasised, came about because of the government's own bad decisions.

The airline had been brought to its knees after a number of RJ70 planes had been bought by Air Malta, he said, adding that the decision to buy such aircraft followed a Cabinet decision that actually ran against Air Malta's own advice.

However, Dr Mangion continued, nobody ever explained why such a decision which had caused so much trouble to the state-owned airline. Now, he insisted, the government is saying that the rescue plan it had devised did not work and that the employees were to blame.

Public Investments Minister Austin Gatt said last week that the airline's workforce would have to be reduced if trade unions opted for a collective agreement rather than a new reform programme.

The minister said the problems the company faced stemmed from core operations this year and the year before and were not the result of past issues, such as the purchase of RJ aircraft, which had been a commercial mistake but had nothing to do with the national carrier losing Lm6 million last year.

Dr Mangion however insisted that the airline's situation was the government's fault.

The MLP deputy leader for party affairs, Michael Falzon, said that for the party it was the people that came first and not statistics. He added that Malta had one of the highest unemployment rates, one of the lowest female employment participation rates and one of the highest rates of inflation.