The government has already agreed in principle to concede control of the management of Air Malta to Alitalia even though the latter will only have a minority shareholding in the Maltese national airline, The Sunday Times of Malta is informed.
Senior government sources said that according to a preliminary agreement, Alitalia and Etihad will effectively have the right to appoint all the senior management at Air Malta, including its chief executive officer. They will have full control of the daily business of the local airline.
This would be despite acquiring only a 49 per cent share of the airline’s equity and being in a minority on the board of directors.
Etihad has a 49 per cent shareholding in Alitalia. Last March, Alitalia appointed Cramer Bell as CEO, who was formerly employed with Jet Airways and Air Seychelles where Etihad also holds a minority shareholding.
“If the deal goes through, Air Malta will effectively be fully managed by Alitalia and Etihad,” a senior government official told this newspaper. “This point has already been agreed even though for now, because of the pending discussions with the unions, the government is not going to say this much in public.”
Asked directly whether the government had already agreed Air Malta would be managed by Alitalia and Etihad, a spokesman for Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis gave a diplomatic reply. “In case of successful negotiations, the new board of directors, in which the government of Malta would have a majority, will appoint the management of the airline,” the spokesman said. “If the deal goes through, an eventual business plan will include all the relevant details including the new network. The plan is to maintain most of the point-to-point routes, especially those that are critical for our tourism industry,” the ministry said.
This point has already been agreed even though for now the government is not going to say this much in public
The Sunday Times of Malta is informed that according to a preliminary business plan, some of the current direct routes operated by Air Malta, particularly connections to London and Brussels, will be maintained.
However, traffic between Malta and Rome is set to increase exponentially with multiple flights to Italy’s capital so that passengers can carry on to their final destination through the Alitalia and Etihad networks based at Fiumicino Airport.
Some direct connections currently served by Air Malta will be stopped and instead most traffic will be passed through Fiumicino and other Italian airports.
Meanwhile, negotiations have also reached an advanced stage on staffing issues.
While it has already been agreed that certain non-core operations of the airline, particularly ground handling and engineering, will be outsourced, those employed in these areas will be transferred onto the books of a government company as has been done with Enemalta.
Other categories of the airline’s staff, particularly pilots and cabin crew, will be retained but their conditions are expected to be drastically revised. Also, extra pilots and cabin crew may be utilised on the Alitalia and Etihad networks.
The first official details of the plans are expected to be divulged tomorrow in Parliament when the Memorandum of Understanding signed last month between the government and Alitalia is expected to be tabled in the House.
Although Dr Zammit Lewis is expected to make a statement, details are expected to be scarce due to the confidentiality of the ongoing negotiations.
At the same time, the government is expected to leave the door of negotiations open by stating that it can still call off the deal if it is not favourable to Air Malta.
