The first draft of the Air Malta restructuring plan is expected to be discussed today by the committee set up for the purpose.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said consultants Ernst and Young would give a presentation on their proposed plan following a detailed analysis they have conducted of the company’s operations over the last few weeks.

The plan would then be finalised sometime next week, Mr Fenech said.

It is understood the report will not be published because of the confidential and commercially-sensitive information it contains.

The restructuring plan is one of the conditions attached to the European Commission’s approval of €52 million in emergency aid to keep the national airline afloat after it made huge losses over the last few years.

Mr Fenech said the country was not falling behind on the target dates set by the Commission, saying talks with Brussels were meant to be concluded by mid-May.

However, he said, it was important to allow the consultants to go into the necessary detail to be able to present a plan that would allow Air Malta to survive. It was very likely the Commission would challenge the assumptions and targets being proposed by the plan. However, this was a normal process, “so one expects some coming and going before the final plan is approved”.

Mr Fenech was not willing to confirm the laying off of 600 of the national airline’s 1,200 workers, saying many numbers had been mentioned. He stuck to the position agreed in the restructuring committee, that it would only discuss matters related to the unions and its workers after such matters had been discussed with the unions themselves.

“This is not simply a question of numbers. We are looking at a whole re-organisation of the company, from how it does its commercial activity, the network it should operate, the capacity it requires and, therefore, the right number of personnel the company should have if it is to pass the Commission’s commercial test before approving the plan.

“I believe the restructuring committee’s first focus is to get it right in terms of a plan that works. If we don’t, the Commission will not be fooled, they have now had tens of European airlines knocking on their doors, they have seen this all before and they will not be fooled. If we try to fool them, we will only fool ourselves because if we agree a plan that then fails, the consequences for Air Malta, and Malta as a whole, would be devastating. Then it would not be about the jobs but about not even having an airline,” he warned.

This did not mean the government was not concerned about the number of workers that could not be retained.

“Within this framework and an agreed restructuring plan, the government will find ways of dealing with the people deemed excessive to the needs of the airline. There are a number of options that can be considered including early retirement and voluntary retirement schemes and the possibility of alternative employment. All this, however, is subject to Commission discussions and approval and, once again, it all boils down to having a credible plan.”

When asked, Mr Fenech confirmed a skills test may be carried out to retain the best people and place them in positions related to their skills. Even the redeployment of people would have to be discussed with the European Commission. He said there was not one problem in Air Malta but “a thousand”. “If everyone continues to resist change, this will be the downfall of the company.”

The General Workers’ Union said last week the government had proposed to lay off half the ground handling workers and more than two thirds of head office employees. Mr Fenech would not confirm this.

Company sources said it was likely there would also be layoffs in other sections, aimed at making the airline commercially viable, depending on the number of aircraft the company would retain. This would determine how many of the 147 pilots and 210 cabin crew would be retained.

“If we want to safeguard jobs, we have to save Air Malta and for Air Malta to survive, it needs to be slimmer and certain years-old work practices have to change, otherwise we will be playing with fire,” the sources said.