Air Malta and cabin crew representatives yesterday agreed to continue discussions in an attempt to resolve a dispute over a planned change to the healthy meals that staff had gotten used to.
A conciliation meeting was held yesterday, chaired by the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations Noel Gauci.
The cabin crew have taken industrial action – refusing to offer passengers the trolley service selling soft drinks, chocolate, coffee, tea and light snacks – in retaliation to the company decision to stop giving them healthy meals.
In a joint statement last night, Air Malta and the Union of Cabin Crew said the meeting had been “cordial” and that both sides had agreed to continue discussions in the coming days to find a solution “in the company’s best interest”.
The directive to crew was issued on New Year’s Eve after Air Malta renegotiated its catering contract with food supplier Sky Gourmet as part of the airline’s restructuring.
Under the new contract, which will save the airline some €4.5 million a year, the airline will offer economy passengers a baguette and bottle of water instead of the in-flight meal that used to be served before. Cabin crew have complained that instead of the cereal, fruit and yoghurt they used to get before, they are now offered the same complimentary baguette and water.
They also resent the fact that not all in-flight personnel will be given this snack – pilots will continue to be served hot meals.
Economy class passengers are being affected negatively
Following the meeting yesterday, sources said there seemed to be some solution in sight but the parties have not yet settled on anything.
Air Malta has always provided food to its cabin crew. However, its composition was changed about three years ago when the management at the time decided to offer a healthier meal – to help the cabin crew maintain a better appearance.
The new fare was dubbed Body Mass Index (BMI) meals by staff, as they say it was a clear message that they ought to control their weight.
The decision to give economy passengers a small baguette and a half-litre bottle of water and make them pay for hot snacks has attracted criticism, especially from customers who had booked to fly Air Malta prior to the announcement about the change.
The airline is on a drive to cut costs and break even, under an EU-imposed restructuring plan. It halved its losses to €16 million in the financial year ended March 2014 and is projecting similar losses for this year.
The change to the menu offered to cabin crew was also going to result in some savings. With four cabin crew members per flight and an average of 15,200 flights per year, the cost of the previous crew meals was an annual €180,000. The expense incurred to provide baguettes and water to them is in the region €60,000, resulting in savings of €120,000, an airline spokesman told Times of Malta.
In return, Air Malta is offering cabin crew a new perk in the form of a commission on sales, “in line with the practices of other international airlines”.
Asked about how the directives were hitting the airline, Air Malta said: “Economy class passengers are being affected negatively by the cabin crew directives since they cannot purchase any beverages, snacks, tea or coffee. Club Class passengers are not being affected.”