Last week, Air Malta released its financial statements for the year. The news was not what one was hoping to hear. The national carrier is still making heavy losses. The fact that losses have been halved is unfortunately simply not good enough.

The restructuring plan was meant to steer the airline to profit-making territory by next year but it is highly unlikely that this target will be reached. The ramifications of this missed deadline are huge.

Unless it returns to making a profit within the next 17 months, Air Malta as we know it will possibly cease to exist.

It seems that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has a plan B.

Having a plan B may not be a bad thing, as long as it is the result of a well thought-out strategy that safeguards the airline’s and the national interest. But is this what is happening?

It seems that the government is considering privatising our national carrier.

I say it seems because, with this government, information has become a scarce commodity.

Information is disseminated by this government on a need to know basis and the government thinks that most of us do not need to know anything.

We did not need to know that the Labour government, or, should I say, the Labour Party, had plans to hand over part of our energy generation capabilities to a foreign State-owned company.

Incidentally, the Labour government had denied it had plans to privatise Enemalta, just as it is denying now it intends to privatise Air Malta.

Handing over a third of Enemalta to Shanghai Electric Corporation is, in my opinion, strategically a wrong move.

Not so much because Shanghai Electric is owned by the Chinese government but because it is a foreign State-owned, government-driven corporation.

A foreign government, whichever it may be, should have no business controlling our energy generation capabilities.

It is one thing selling a national asset to a private company. It is quite another selling an essential commodity to another State.

Whether we like it or not, our dealings with China will now be conditioned by the fact that the Chinese State owns a third of our only electricity company and one of our power stations.

By buying one third of Enemalta, the Chinese government has effectively gained a measure of control over our economy and, by virtue of that, control of our affairs.

Repeating the same mistake with Air Malta could be tantamount to economic treason.

We would effectively be handing over control of the lifeline of our economy to another State. I hope that, this time round, the government’s denial is sincere.

The Opposition is committed to giving all the assistance it can to the government in ensuring Air Malta’s survival. Selling it to a foreign State-owned carrier is no solution.

Repeating with Air Malta the same mistake made at Enemalta could be tantamount to economic treason

Our tourism industry, which represents one quarter of the economy, depends on Air Malta. The airline carries 40 out of every 100 visitors that come to Malta.

It services tourism segments that cannot be serviced by the low-cost carriers. But its importance goes beyond tourism.

Air Malta provides an essential service to other sectors, such as financial services. It ferries cargo in and out of Malta. It connects us to important transit hubs in Europe. It acts as our air ambulance. It is the key to our economy and it would be irrational, to put it mildly, to let this key out of our hands.

The restructuring plan was yielding positive results but, for some reasons, that plan has now gone haywire. Having three chairpersons and CEOs in the last year and a half has certainly not helped.

The current chairwoman of Air Malta cited a number of reasons while issuing a stiff warning against political interference.

Was she perhaps referring to the decision to load the company’s payroll with 300 more employees in the past months? Was she perhaps referring to rumours that ministers are constantly interfering in the company’s operations, currying personal favours at the expense of the company’s interest?

Was she referring to the depletion of top management positions?

This is not the way to go. I heard these allegations from more than one source.

If they are true, and I have no reason to doubt they are, then the government has a lot to answer for.

Air Malta needs to operate strictly on commercial lines. The company also needs fresh capital injection. The source of that capital should be, can be local.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association implored the government to consider the Bank of Valletta model, that is issuing shares for the public and possibly giving a very limited shareholding to a strategic partner.

This could be one option. Total privatisation is not, more so if this is done by selling the airline to another State company.

This government’s plans to revitalise the energy sector hit a snag.

At least in the energy sector, the investment by the previous administration – the BWSC plant and the interconnector – will ensure a steady, cost-effective electricity supply. So, whatever problems this government is facing, our life will go on. If Air Malta falls, our economic lifeline will be hit badly.

One hopes the government is not allowing things to move in that direction to eventually produce a red joker out of the deck.

Mario de Marco is deputy leader of the Nationalist Party.