The pilots' union this morning allayed concerns that it was planning to keep Air Malta planes grounded, saying they were not considering any flight cancellations as part of their dispute over a new collective agreement.
This assurance was given before Magistrate Silvio Meli, who is hearing submissions on an injunction filed by Air Malta in a bid to prevent the pilots' union from taking industrial action while the airline negotiates a proposed 49 per cent takeover by Alitalia.
Pilots have been following a dress-down directive in recent weeks, as talks on a new collective agreement, which expired last January, have stalled.
Today's sitting followed a conciliation meeting held last Wednesday on the court's initiative, which however failed to break the deadlock as both sides did not budge from their positions.
Lawyer Louis Degabriele who is appearing on behalf of Air Malta this morning reiterated that the airline had €66 million in accumulated losses and could not withstand any industrial action in the current circumstances.
Earlier the court heard that if no agreement is reached with Alitalia or any other strategic partners by the end of October, Air Malta would not be in a position to pay its workers.
Dr Degabriele said that Alpa's actions were only meant to hit the company hard when it was at its most vulnerable, and questioned whether such action was in good faith. He added that they were not in a position to given certain guarantees to the pilots, for the simple reason that talks had not yet been finalised.
The airline argued that the pilot's action was disproportionate as it would result in the national carrier becoming bankrupt, and in turn have ramifications on other sectors of the economy, mainly tourism.
Lawyer Edward Gatt on behalf of the pilots' union said that upholding the injunction could result in a dangerous precedent far beyond Air Malta, as other employers would start using such a measure to prevent their workers from taking industrial action. He noted that pilots unlike particular sectors of the workforce like disciplined forces were not precluded by law not to take industrial action, and so Air Malta's request should not be acceded to.
But he then went on to declare that contrary to the impressions being given in some quarters, pilots were not planning on cancelling any flights through their industrial action.
On the other hand, he said that they could not wait for the end of talks to allay their concerns, saying that there were indications that Alitalia was planning to reduce the existing complement of pilots of 118 by about 35. This is the time for us to use the tools at our disposal to safeguard our jobs or any changes in the conditions of work, he said.
Dr Gatt also questioned the airline's financial situation, saying that the company was sending mixed messages. On the one hand it was saying that it was on the brink of bankruptcy, but then in a press release issued by the new CEO it thanked outgoing chief Philip Micallef for bringing the airline on the road of profitability.
In his reply, Dr Degabriele argued that such a statement had to be taken in the context that losses were reduced, insisting that the company's overall accumulated losses were still alarming.
Following the end of submissions, Mr Justice Meli said that a decision would be communicated to them in due course.
This article was amended at 2.48pm