Air Malta chairwoman Maria Micallef has ruled out the possibility of taking responsibility for the day-to-day running of the national airline, following the unexpected resignation of Louis Giordimaina from the post of CEO.
Meanwhile, she again cited “personal reasons” when asked to explain Mr Giordimaina’s sudden departure and said she was not aware of any “differences or clashes” between her and the former CEO.
“In his resignation letter to me as chairman of the board, Mr Giordimaina cited personal reasons for his resignation. This was confirmed in subsequent conversations with him,” Ms Micallef told The Sunday Times of Malta.
We have already started actively working to identify the right person to take over as CEO from Louis Giordimaina
However, sources close to the company yesterday insisted that Mr Giordimaina departed because he could not work with Ms Micallef.
Appointed by the Labour government last year as designate CEO, Mr Giordimaina lasted less than nine months in the post after taking over from Peter Davies who left the company last March.
Ms Micallef was appointed chairwoman last July following the resignation of Ray Fenech who had been heading the company since the change of administration.
Asked whether she would be interested in taking over as an executive chairwoman, Ms Micallef – who also occupies the post of chief operations officer of the Arkadia Group and other top posts in the Mizzi Organisation – ruled out the possibility.
“As a board, we have already started actively working to identify the right person to take over as CEO from Mr Giordimaina,” she said.
Efforts to contact Mr Giordimaina yesterday were fruitless while Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis, who is responsible for the company, had declined to comment.
The national airline is currently passing through a difficult patch, particularly following the closure of the Libyan routes considered to be among the most lucrative for the airline.
At the same time, Air Malta is just a year away from completing the five-year restructuring plan agreed between the government and the European Commission.
The plan, which has to be implemented by November 2015, allowed the Maltese government to give a one-time financial injection to the airline – to the tune of €130 million – to enable Air Malta put its financial house in order.
The Maltese government will not be allowed to grant further subsidies after next year.
In a statement last month, Mr Giordimaina had expressed concern about the state of the airline, saying that a new chief commercial officer and his deputy would be immediately tasked with finding ways to develop a top revenue line which was healthy and sustainable.
“(These are) two things that continued to evade the airline despite the ongoing implementation of the restructuring plan.”
He added that revenues were under pressure due to increased competition and the suspension of Libya, “one of our profitable routes”.