New inflight caterer offers to employ current packers

Air Malta's new inflight catering contractor will offer full-time employment on an indefinite contract to all the 27 employees of Airport Services Ltd, an Air Malta subsidiary which handles the packing of inflight bar items and dry goods.

The airline yesterday announced it had signed a 10-year inflight catering contract with Airest Malta Ltd, which will take over the operation on April 1.

Meanwhile, talks over the future of 90 employees of the former catering supplier Flight Catering Company - which had provided the service for 30 years - are expected to be held today between Airest Malta and the General Workers' Union. The employees received notices of termination last week.

The GWU's food and hospitality section insists that the new contractor should take on these employees under the same conditions as it believes this was "a transfer of undertaking" on the basis of an EU directive and article 38 of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.

Airest will be taking care of inflight catering, bars and commissary services. The contract will integrate four main functions which until now were all performed by different operators: The firm will supply Air Malta with around 1.5 million meals annually; source, store and issue inflight equipment, catering items, bar items and dry goods; pack inflight items and transport them to and from aircraft at Malta International Airport.

Air Malta said it was planning similar initiatives for information technology, aircraft cleaning, inflight entertainment and the consolidation of the call centre function to Malta.