Air Malta cabin crew have voted to lift an industrial action over the in-flight food they are entitled to.

The breakthrough in the ‘baguette war’ was announced by Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis yesterday. He expressed the government’s satisfaction that the cabin crew had realised that Air Malta needed to move forward and that all efforts should be made to ensure it met its ambitious targets.

Following the axing of free catering for economy class passengers on Air Malta flights and the introduction of a free baguette instead, the Union of Cabin Crew had cried foul, claiming a breach of the collective agreement. It said staff members were entitled to ‘suitable meals’ and not the baguette offered to passengers.

The union registered an industrial dispute ordering members not to serve passengers with food that could be bought from the trolley.

In a statement yesterday, the union said the majority of its members had voted at the annual general meeting on Thursday to lift the baguette directive after they were addressed by company chairwoman Marisa Micallef.

“This was done in the best interest of the stakeholders involved, notwithstanding the fact that Air Malta has recognised that it has breached a legitimate collective agreement clause without prior consultation with the union,” the statement said.

When contacted, a union spokesman would not say whether the airline had given in to any of its demands.

“We have now decided to start selling in-flight food as the company wished. We are doing this for the benefit of Air Malta,” he said.

Asked whether cabin crew would be accepting the baguette offered by Air Malta, the spokesman preferred not to comment.

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