Air Malta chairwoman Maria Micallef told The Sunday Times of Malta “we can save this airline”. It was a bold statement and, unless she is prepared to keep party politics out of the cockpit, a presumptuous one too.

For the year ended March 2014, the airline is expected to post losses of €31 million with a loss of about €16 million being forecast for the present year. These figures are substantially off target from what was listed in the restructuring plan approved by the European Union in 2012.

So far, no details have been divulged on how the national airline will correct its course to avoid tough sanctions from the EU competition regulators adamant in stopping governments from supporting their ailing airlines through State assistance.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said no jobs would be lost at Air Malta despite a setback in the restructuring plan. This may have addressed the anxiety of staff members but the public needs more information because the national airline has an impact on the lives of many other people and businesses that operate in the tourism sector and beyond.

Most people expect a mature non-partisan political debate that rises above the usual finger pointing as to who is to blame for the present difficult situation of the national airline. Truth is one administration after another persisted in using Air Malta as a convenient tool to curry favours and win votes.

The Prime Minister insists the commitments in the restructuring plan have to be honoured while adding that “any agreement for a tie-up with a strategic partner for the airline had to be such that the government retained control over the company”.

Some sort of ‘alliance’ now seems to be a must though, of course, the State needs to continue to have a ‘reasonable’ say while accepting that all decisions made are based on commercial not political grounds and pressing for a good degree of public service obligations since this is an island wholly dependent on air and sea travel.

There is need for more visibility in the government’s future plans for Air Malta. The realities of the civil aviation industry are that low-cost airlines continue to grow as the legacy ones struggle to remain flying.

Prestigious national airlines will only accept to enter into alliances that make strategic sense to them. As it seeks partners/alliances, Air Malta will need to have something to offer to other airlines in the form of logistic advantages. Negotiations – whether with potential partners or with the European Commission – are therefore likely to be tough as the national carrier strives to strike a balance between securing a sound return and fulfilling its ‘public service’ role and this not only in terms of ferrying tourists to and from the island.

One would, therefore, expect the airline’s management and the government to adopt a pragmatic approach to negotiations. Finger-pointing exercises will only serve to waste time and energy.

To be successful, there has to be one, concerted effort with everybody pulling the same rope. A good start to bring about an environment conducive to such a situation is to put all cards on the table – making exceptions for genuine commercial, though definitely not political, considerations – and make use of the best talent one can afford, be that local or imported.

Decisions should be made by those truly conversant with the airline industry within the wider context of government policy. The cockpit is a confined space and, therefore, only those needing to be there should remain.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.