ALPA stands by its president

E. Azzopardi

Aug 20th 2012, 17:42

If what has been reported were true, it is unacceptable.

If what has been alleged is true, I cannot comprehend why Mr Azzopardi let himself being caught up in all this, especially in his position and during these times.

Peter Simpson

Aug 20th 2012, 16:57

As if Air Malta's management haven't got more serious things to inquire about? This silly attack on Mr Azzopardi confirms that political interference in Air Malta is still the order of the day and therefore all those who think and hope that anything good will come out of these never ending 'reforms' loose all hope: Air Malta will go down the drain!

j brincat

Aug 20th 2012, 16:54

@Mariano Scerri

"JIEN QED NISTENNA KUNDANNA CARA U TONDA MINGHAND JOSEPH MUSCAT FIR-RIGWARD TA' DUMINKU AZZOPARDI. JEKK DAN MA JSEHHX, HUWA JKUN KOMPLICI U JKUN PARTI MILL-ISTESS KUMPLOTT TA' KORRUZZJONI LAMPANTI.

"WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER!"

What's got Dr Muscat got to do with this?

If you feel so strong about corruption, as it should be, why don't you petition GonziPN to enact the Whistle Blower's Law AND this is to come with retrospective effect of say 10 to 15 years?



(jb)

GL Calleja

Aug 20th 2012, 16:53

If true and the airline can prove it, this is a very serious matter and the captain of that flight needs to be severely reprimanded. Don't forget that no matter who Mr Azzopardi is, he is still an Air Malta employee, traveling with his family and my guess is he was travelling on a pass, a freebie, which all airline employees receive as a perk. If the flight was really delayed to accommodate Mr Azzoppardi and his family, then the people responsible should be heavily reprimanded if not fired. Unless the Tower directed the air Malta flight to wait at the Gate and or there was a mechanical problem, there was no good reason for The captain of that flight to delay departure after the doors were closed and the carriage way pulled away from the aircraft. Normally soon as this happens the brakes are released and it shows the aircraft departing on time. Airline knowledge. So what did the Captain tell the passengers about having to wait at the gate with the doors closed etc? What was the real reason for the delay? Nobody seems to care about the inconvenience of the passenger. If the Captain delayed the flight for a fellow airline employee and his family,, what we in the industry call, a non paying passenger this should be heavily investigated and I encourage ALPA to do the same. If true this is an abuse of power by the Captain of that flight and it is a huge embarrassment to all pilots and the airline. Air Malta has every right to investigate this incident and so does the Milan Airport authorities. Someone might ask if the aircraft waited for that half hour with engines running? Again Air Malta owes those passengers an apology and an explanation. I hope the TIMES stays on top of this incident and report the outcome, unless everything is swept under the carpet.

A Caruana

Aug 20th 2012, 15:44

Easch looks after their own family it seems! Who exactly knows how many times this sort of thing has been going on? How many flights have been delayed by a simple phone call to their best buddies to hold up the flight till they arrive? Yes AirMlata would do well to investigate this matter and look into the reasons why flights are delayed very carefully.

Mariano Scerri

Aug 20th 2012, 14:50

JIEN QED NISTENNA KUNDANNA CARA U TONDA MINGHAND JOSEPH MUSCAT FIR-RIGWARD TA' DUMINKU AZZOPARDI. JEKK DAN MA JSEHHX, HUWA JKUN KOMPLICI U JKUN PARTI MILL-ISTESS KUMPLOTT TA' KORRUZZJONI LAMPANTI.

"WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER!"

Mario Pisani

Aug 20th 2012, 14:48

komda l-affari eh!!!! Mela jien noqghod fil-kju biex naghmel check in u ma nitlifx l-ajruplan, u s-Sur Azzopardi jaghmel li jrid ghax huwa habib ta' Joseph Muscat. Jabbuza issa, ahseb u ara meta jkunu fil-Gvern!!

Leonard Cole

Aug 20th 2012, 14:08

ALPA is claiming that the newspaper story did not portray the facts as actually happened... Very well dear ALPA gives us the right facts and explain to us what has actually happened .......

Fran Abela

Aug 20th 2012, 14:02

ALPA this was no personal attack. It was just an article stating what happened. Of course, I suppose you must have another reasons for calling a strike.

carmel muscat

Aug 20th 2012, 14:01

dan il kaptan inzerta wkoll il president tal union u tajdtx kemm hambak fuq it tv li l airmalta ma emmx min imexxi tajjeb u qeda titlef hafna flus imhabba mis management insaqsi jien li kaptan jistenna kaptan iehor li inzerta huwa il president tal union ghal 30 minuta huwa miss management ????????????? halluwna ha nejxu mela sew lijli jobligawni nitla satejn qabel ghal flight bliskuza tas security hu ghax kaptan mux talli ma jigiex kmieni imma jasal tard u noqodu nistennewh

Fran Abela

Aug 20th 2012, 14:01

Lots of comments for and against. Not one comment stating that Capt. Azzopardi could have had the decency to apologise to the passengers who had to wait.

carmel muscat

Aug 20th 2012, 13:54

xipretendu li l union tal pilots sa tohoda kontra wiehed min shabom ?? mux ekk sejra id dinja HOKLI DARI U INHOK tijjek u kollox jispicca f jumejn qisu qatt ma gara xejn qatt u qatt ma kellom jistennewh ghal detriment tal passigiri ghax hadt ma huwa RUFJAN ta hadt ----- - -- ---- - - - -- - - -

Mary Ann Borg

Aug 20th 2012, 13:27

@ Wally Vella-Zarb: Firstly, you are directing people to a list that is outdated by 5 years. Secondly, it shows that the management at the airline and PN that you always critisize were operating an airline that placed first in punctuality, and thirdly, the list is only of minor importance because you know that one of Europe's largest airline has the best on-time record, and that is Ryanair. And remember that Ryanair operates as many flights in 2 weeks as Air Malta flies in a whole year.
Whatever happened that delayed the flight from Milan surely did not help Air Malta's punctuality record. And its not just the passengers who were on that flight that got delayed but also the passengers on the subsequent flight as the plane arrived at Luqa late so the next flight could not depart on time either.
And now that so much has been said, can you or Peter Murray give a reason for the delayed departure from Milan? Was it a technical issue, was it a slot issue, was it because the Prattikament Prim Ministru was also on board that flight, or was it for some other reason? You seem to know and write a lot about Air Malta, its past, its present, its choice of planes, its management etc. So you must know what delayed the Milan-Malta flight.

A Vella

Aug 20th 2012, 13:01

Air Malta should first and foremost investigate why the check in desk in Milan close earlier than they are supposed to.
Passengers have a right to check in up to 35 minutes before the flight departs...imagine arriving well in advance of the check in deadline only to find the check in desks closed. Apparently this is quiet a normal occurrence in Milan.

vincent Lia

Aug 20th 2012, 12:43

How pathetic are the comments made by apparently LP supporters in defence of Alpa leader especially when LP says that it stands for 'transparency'. If the plane had its doors shut than the captain must have been happy that all passengers that checked in are on board and in no way would he stay half an hour waiting unless he was contacted by someone that is more special than others. This is called abusing your position and should be condemed. The book clearly states that normal passengers need to be at the airport 2 hours before flight departure. Why cannot LP supporters be honest and condemn what is wrong. Same with the 'e-mail leaks'. Leaks my foot. JM encouraged a mole to spy for him against the interest of her employers. An email hacker would have not just stopped at that, and in any case two wrongs do not make a right and JM should have resigned and appologized to give an example of his transparancy.

K. Vella

Aug 20th 2012, 12:21

@ Stephen Debono

Why are you trying to politicize the matter....

Let the investigations be conducted....and let's hope that next time the plane will wait for us as well....

stephen debono

Aug 20th 2012, 11:52

all pn bloggers

Kif tistghu tikkummentaww jekk ma tafux il- fatti? Naf li ghandkhom raskom kbira imma ma kontx naf li tahsbu li intom xi allat, u tafu kollox u fuq kollox. Hemm il-provi li ic-check in desk ta milan ghalaq qabel il- hin, haga li issir ta sikwit geww l- airports ta milan, imbghad jaslu il-passiggieri u ic-check in ikollu jerga jiftah, bil konsegwenza li il- flights johorgu tard. Tipikament blogs ta nazzjonalisti, jitfghu it tajn minghajr ma jinvestigaw il- fatti. Ara imbghad meta persuna fl- airmalta qrib hafna tal partit nazzjonalista ghamel rejat gravi hafna ftit xhur wara li ha promozzjoni u meta kien ghadu bil probation, hemmhekk mhux tallli ma gabuhx fil media izda ghamlu minn kollox biex mewwtu il- kaz u l- anqas biss nehhewlu il- promotion.

Kevin Whitehead

Aug 20th 2012, 11:47

For all the moaners and ranters who think they know it all.
Here is Air MALTA'S punctuality as published. The rank speaks for itself.
http://files.aea.be/News/PR/Pr08-006.pdf

Pierre Mangion

Aug 20th 2012, 11:35

commenting on the matter now without the full details of what actually happened is just small town gossip and rumour.

surely no normal citizen would get any preferential treatment especially at international airports, whereby they don't even allow you to weight your bags prior to check-in on any of the un-utilised counters. i all my years of flying, i can only recall two recurrent complaints i have with airmalta - that the legroom seems to be smaller than the other airlines, including the low cost, and the prices for certain flights are usually tenfold the prices charged by other airlines, including non low cost.

obviously the industrial dispute between the pilots and the airline is a crucial one and has to be respected. without the pilots the planes wont fly and also one has to consider the responsibility of all those lives being shouldered by the pilots and crew. we are not talking about a two seater plane but 150+ souls who consciously (or not) are trusting their lives in the hands of the pilots and crew.

John Zarb

Aug 20th 2012, 11:32

I travel very often to Milan and in more than one occasione we had to wait for MEP's and/or cabinet ministers and/or Mp's. I was always irritated but nobody ever raised a finger. So why now for the ALPA president?
What's good for the goose is good for the gender.

Peter Cagney

Aug 20th 2012, 11:11

Dominic Azzopardi should have known better. Being a President of a professional organisation demands being above board.

Unfortunately he has now lost credibility and should therefore resign from his post.

Peter Sullivan

Aug 20th 2012, 11:07

We mere mortals are asked to arrive 2 hours prior to departure of flight for check-in. I dont see why the ALPA president or anybody else should expect to catch a flight after checking in 15 minutes after the check-in desk was closed (as reported in the Times), and thereby delaying a flight !!!

Peter Murray

Aug 20th 2012, 11:05

HAS Capt Azzopardi been charged with anything or has he been found guilty of anything?Unless and until this is irrefutably detemined and established why don't you all stop presuming andf thinking you are know-it-alls as there is only one thing worse than a little knowledge and that is a big assumption!

Victor A

Aug 20th 2012, 10:39

"GOD PROTECT ME FROM MY FRIENDS, I CAN TAKE CARE OF MY ENEMIES"

Michael Borg

Aug 20th 2012, 10:39

what do you expect when arriva arrives 5 mins late we complain !! so what do you expect airline held to wait for him !!!

Joseph Cauchi Senior

Aug 20th 2012, 10:26

Surprise! Surprise!

Would one expect something different from the Airline Pilots’ Association’s response in defence to its own president?

How naïve and stupid do these people think, we the general public (i.e. Gianni ‘l-Poplu) are?

Let’s hope that a thorough investigation by Air Malta is held in order to establish the true facts; and all those that are responsible are made to answer for their deeds!

JC.

R ferriggi

Aug 20th 2012, 10:15

THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME,,,,, MILAN SECURITY HELD ME AND I COULD SEE THE PLANE THERE STOPPED FOR A GOOD 45 MINUTES.

THEY HAD ALL THE TIME TO SIMPLY,.,,,,,,,,,,, OPEN THE AIRCRAFT DOOR FOR ME AND I WALK IN.

BUT GUESS WHAT ????????

YES YOU GUESSED IT. COST ME A GOOD 300 EUROS TO TAKE ALTERNATIVE FLIGHTS AFTER SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR IN MILAN AIRPORT.

I AM NO D,A, ............... AFTER ALL. A COMMON MORTAL.

Charles Micallef

Aug 20th 2012, 10:01

Please let us forget who this Air Malta passenger is / was and which side of the political divide he hails from.... the issue is that I have never been on an Air Malta flight (and I have been on a few) and the Captain delays the flight for a full half an hour because some passengers were late and I like other many (non politically minded) bloggers cannot understand what prompted the Captain of this flight to delay this flight?

Punctuality is something that Air Malta fails on miserably when compared with other airlines operating from Malta so why aggravate the issue?