Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis yesterday did not rule out the total or partial privatisation of Air Malta, saying the government was committed to ensuring the airline became commercially viable by next year.
Answering questions by Opposition MPs Claudio Grech, Jason Azzopardi, Antoine Borg and Mario de Marco, as well as Anthony Agius Decelis (PL), he said the government was doing everything possible to safeguard the future of the national airline, “a strategic asset”, and had no problem in consulting with the Opposition and the stakeholders at the opportune time.
Asked about the possible impact on Air Malta’s employees of the restructuring measures, he said they would leave them better off.
It was beyond comprehension how the previous Air Malta management, who fled after the 2013 election, had been given a three-year contract to implement a five-year structural plan agreed with the EU by the Nationalist administration, he said.
In 2010 Air Malta had to take a €52 million rescue loan, and two years later it agreed with Brussels that the government would increase its equity in the airline to €130 million.
The workers may not like everything said to them, but we are determined to achieve the targets
Dr Zammit Lewis accused the previous administration of not having moved with the times in terms of what European airlines were doing to best utilise their fleet and workforce.
He was surprised that, after the restructuring deal, the Air Malta management paid nearly €10 million in consultancy fees.
Asked about the statement issued earlier by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, he said the government was ready to make any strategic agreement with any airline.
It wanted Air Malta to have a sound financial base and any conditions made by the EU would be rigorously followed.
The MHRA was advocating privatisation according to a particular model, saying the airline should remain Maltese even if shares were sold.
The government was communicating with the workers about the challenges ahead, the measures taken by the airline to reach its short-term goals and the work it was doing to expand it in a regional context.
Dismissals had been made under the former government. The present one was doing its best to avoid them and was also working to avoid touching working conditions, but in a tough competitive environment, he could not say more.
The workers may not like everything that was said to them because there were challenges to be overcome. “We are determined to achieve the targets,” the minister said.