Air Malta pilots seconded to Polish airline OLT Express will return home today after the company stopped flying over the weekend.
Air Malta only needs 110 pilots... difficult negotiations will begin on Thursday
The 10 pilots were part of a training agreement Air Malta reached with OLT Express in April that also included the lease of an Airbus aircraft.
The plane, one of two that Air Malta leased to third parties as part of its restructuring programme, returned to Malta yesterday.
The development was described as a setback by Air Malta CEO Peter Davies yesterday evening, hours after unveiling the airline’s new brand colours and strategy. “We are managers and we have to manage the highs as well as the lows,” he said.
Mr Davies explained that all money owed by OLT Express until yesterday had been paid and Air Malta was covered by a bank deposit of about €400,000 ($500, 000).
“As we understand, they have not gone bankrupt yet and they don’t owe us any money for the aircraft lease but, as time moves forward, the outstanding aircraft leases will become payable.
“We have a substantial deposit of half a million dollars that was agreed during negotiations and I feel comfortable that any outstanding debt will be covered by that deposit.”
The restructuring plan approved by the European Commission stipulated that Air Malta had to fly with 10 aircraft and 110 pilots.
Mr Davies said a meeting would be held on Thursday with the Airline Pilots Association on the future of the 10 pilots.
“This clearly represents a problem because Air Malta only needs 110 pilots. We have some difficult and delicate negotiations that will begin on Thursday.”
The 10 pilots are still Air Malta employees but their wages were paid by the Polish airline.
Without giving details, the CEO said management had some constructive proposals and hoped the pilots’ union would come to the meeting with a constructive attitude to resolve the problem.
“OLT was brought to us through Alpa’s international contacts and that was a positive development,” Mr Davies said.
OLT Express cancelled all domestic flights in Poland over the weekend, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
In April, an Airbus A320 left Malta in full OLT Express colours to start operating in Poland. The wet lease agreement included training services that also saw Polish pilots come for training in Malta.
Mr Davies said OLT Express had difficulty reaching an agreement with its principle investor, Amber Gold, and negotiations took a turn for the worse on Monday night.
The Airbus was returned to Air Malta in line with the agreement but Mr Davies said the company was exploring other possibilities to sub-let the plane as quickly as possible.
“The company will try to reach a similar agreement regarding the pilots with another airline but that’s not guaranteed,” he added.
Mr Davies said a due diligence of OLT Express was conducted before the agreement was signed and management was confident the company was financially strong for the long term.
At the time, the balance sheet was strong, he said, pointing out that the discussions also involved the International Lease Finance Corp, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, owners of the Air Malta aircraft.