Senseless dogfight
"It stayed around and will be around longer than operators who... stick it out only if they achieve their targeted profit."
There is an ongoing dogfight between Ryanair, the low cost airline, and Air Malta, the national airline. Ryanair's top executives seem to delight in taking it upon themselves to publicly criticise the way Air Malta goes about its operation. The national airline responds in the media, though not exactly in kind. Its language, though strong, is far more measured than that of Ryanair's executives, who also find it necessary to be as brusque as can be.
From the way Ryanair writes in the local media it would seem that the Irish airline is convinced that Malta had no air link with the outside world before it came along. The reality is rather different. Malta had been regularly served by various airlines well before Ryanair came into corporate being, and certain far longer than it has been operating to and from Malta in respect of a limited number of destinations.
That is not to say that the Ryanair connection has not been beneficial to Malta. It has, at a cost of a substantial subsidy also given to other low cost carriers. It was a conscious government decision to give the subsidy, to entice low cost airlines, this being an era in which they have become a reality of commercial life that cannot be ignored.
One has to presume that our tourism authorities make their calculations on a regular basis to determine that the net measurable direct and indirect impact of low cost airlines on the Maltese economy justifies the subsidy being given to them. Of these carriers, it is only Ryanair that swaggers along in a perennial loud voice.
Its raucousness was painfully evident in its initial negotiations with the Maltese authorities, with them too during the time it has linked up with Malta, and particularly so in regard to Air Malta.
Ryanair seems to have a penchant for an unpleasant style. The operators of other low cost carriers who have also linked up with Malta do not find it necessary to conduct their negotiations, or even controversial matters, so loudly and unpleasantly. But then, one need not take offence at the way Ryanair goes about its business. Its personality and style are the same wherever it operates.
It is a commercial animal, driven by the profit motive, which is the only language of the trade. It drives a hard bargain wherever it operates, which is one of the reasons for its success. It deserves no criticism in that regard - results is the name of the commercial game. And Ryanair produces them. What jars is that it is so uncouth about them.
Beyond the rough and tough personality and style there is the fact that the Irish company cares about no one except itself. In the process, it makes good money. It may not be popular with governments or with competitors, but it delivers to its shareholders. It attracts a steady flow of passengers who end up with split opinions. Some swear never to use it again. Others swear by its effectiveness.
As for governments, they tolerate the way it goes about doing things in the grim knowledge that there is not a shred of loyalty involved in the airline's relationship with their economies.
Which is where Air Malta comes in. Throughout its life the Maltese airline has been manifestly loyal to Malta. Its ethos has not been, and perhaps cannot be purely commercial. It has flown routes where it could not break even against the allocated costs. But it persevered, in the knowledge that the routes were important for the Maltese economy. It stayed on that flight path for years, even when the pressure of the mounting cost of fuel bit sharply into its profitability. And it did it all without receiving a brass penny or euro cent from the government aside from the initial paid-up capital.
That will not impress Ryanair, of course. And why should it? The Irish airline lives in a different world where a national soul has no meaning, as it has for Air Malta.
What, then, lies at the heart of Ryanair's attack on Air Malta? The simple answer is competition. Ryanair has done well on the routes agreed with the government. It wants to do better, and to do so at the cost of Air Malta, as well as of other airlines flying to the island.
The low cost carrier will not admit that. Instead it directs its shots at Air Malta in the apparent context that the Maltese airline only started lifting itself by its boot strings after the low cost carrier burst on the scene. There can be no doubt that those who run Air Malta had to take into account the competition which arrived in the form of low cost carriers.
That is the nature of the market. But it is a travesty of the truth to suggest that before that the national airline was some sort of a sleeping beauty. From its very beginning in the early 1970s it had to claw its way forward. It did so successfully, though successive governments bloated it with excess personnel. It also had to respond to the grave challenge of soaring fuel costs. That applied to other airlines, of course, Ryanair included. But Air Malta's response had to be in the context of its national soul, not that of soulless operators.
Ably led by its CEO and implementing a strong policy defined by its board of directors Air Malta has made massive strides in recent years. It has not reached nirvana - which company ever does? And in the process relations with its employees at times became strained, not least because of mistakes by parts of its management which could have been avoided.
Nevertheless in the process it has become leaner and more efficient. It has not produced profits - the effects of the oil price saw to that. But it has survived. It stayed around and will be around longer than operators who, as is their brief, stick it out only if they achieve their targeted profit.
In this broad context the ongoing spat between Ryanair and Air Malta is senseless. The Maltese company feels it has to reply to the bad-mouthing of it by the Irish operator. It needn't waste too much time doing that. Only the short-sighted fail to understand what Ryanair is trying to achieve by extracting space in the local media.
From the way Ryanair writes in the local media it would seem that the Irish airline is convinced that Malta had no air link with the outside world before it came along. The reality is rather different. Malta had been regularly served by various airlines well before Ryanair came into corporate being, and certain far longer than it has been operating to and from Malta in respect of a limited number of destinations.
That is not to say that the Ryanair connection has not been beneficial to Malta. It has, at a cost of a substantial subsidy also given to other low cost carriers. It was a conscious government decision to give the subsidy, to entice low cost airlines, this being an era in which they have become a reality of commercial life that cannot be ignored.
One has to presume that our tourism authorities make their calculations on a regular basis to determine that the net measurable direct and indirect impact of low cost airlines on the Maltese economy justifies the subsidy being given to them. Of these carriers, it is only Ryanair that swaggers along in a perennial loud voice.
Its raucousness was painfully evident in its initial negotiations with the Maltese authorities, with them too during the time it has linked up with Malta, and particularly so in regard to Air Malta.
Ryanair seems to have a penchant for an unpleasant style. The operators of other low cost carriers who have also linked up with Malta do not find it necessary to conduct their negotiations, or even controversial matters, so loudly and unpleasantly. But then, one need not take offence at the way Ryanair goes about its business. Its personality and style are the same wherever it operates.
It is a commercial animal, driven by the profit motive, which is the only language of the trade. It drives a hard bargain wherever it operates, which is one of the reasons for its success. It deserves no criticism in that regard - results is the name of the commercial game. And Ryanair produces them. What jars is that it is so uncouth about them.
Beyond the rough and tough personality and style there is the fact that the Irish company cares about no one except itself. In the process, it makes good money. It may not be popular with governments or with competitors, but it delivers to its shareholders. It attracts a steady flow of passengers who end up with split opinions. Some swear never to use it again. Others swear by its effectiveness.
As for governments, they tolerate the way it goes about doing things in the grim knowledge that there is not a shred of loyalty involved in the airline's relationship with their economies.
Which is where Air Malta comes in. Throughout its life the Maltese airline has been manifestly loyal to Malta. Its ethos has not been, and perhaps cannot be purely commercial. It has flown routes where it could not break even against the allocated costs. But it persevered, in the knowledge that the routes were important for the Maltese economy. It stayed on that flight path for years, even when the pressure of the mounting cost of fuel bit sharply into its profitability. And it did it all without receiving a brass penny or euro cent from the government aside from the initial paid-up capital.
That will not impress Ryanair, of course. And why should it? The Irish airline lives in a different world where a national soul has no meaning, as it has for Air Malta.
What, then, lies at the heart of Ryanair's attack on Air Malta? The simple answer is competition. Ryanair has done well on the routes agreed with the government. It wants to do better, and to do so at the cost of Air Malta, as well as of other airlines flying to the island.
The low cost carrier will not admit that. Instead it directs its shots at Air Malta in the apparent context that the Maltese airline only started lifting itself by its boot strings after the low cost carrier burst on the scene. There can be no doubt that those who run Air Malta had to take into account the competition which arrived in the form of low cost carriers.
That is the nature of the market. But it is a travesty of the truth to suggest that before that the national airline was some sort of a sleeping beauty. From its very beginning in the early 1970s it had to claw its way forward. It did so successfully, though successive governments bloated it with excess personnel. It also had to respond to the grave challenge of soaring fuel costs. That applied to other airlines, of course, Ryanair included. But Air Malta's response had to be in the context of its national soul, not that of soulless operators.
Ably led by its CEO and implementing a strong policy defined by its board of directors Air Malta has made massive strides in recent years. It has not reached nirvana - which company ever does? And in the process relations with its employees at times became strained, not least because of mistakes by parts of its management which could have been avoided.
Nevertheless in the process it has become leaner and more efficient. It has not produced profits - the effects of the oil price saw to that. But it has survived. It stayed around and will be around longer than operators who, as is their brief, stick it out only if they achieve their targeted profit.
In this broad context the ongoing spat between Ryanair and Air Malta is senseless. The Maltese company feels it has to reply to the bad-mouthing of it by the Irish operator. It needn't waste too much time doing that. Only the short-sighted fail to understand what Ryanair is trying to achieve by extracting space in the local media.