Unions representing Air Malta employees feel they are not being consulted enough at this critical phase in the airline’s history.
Speaking to The Times, the General Workers Union and the pilots and cabin crew unions said they had not met the new board yet, and that it had been two months since the last meeting of the steering committee on restructuring.
The ailing airline’s restructuring plan is under review by the European Commission but the restructuring process, which will involve the shedding of some 600 jobs, is already under way.
“The chief restructuring officer has been with us for three weeks but we still have not met him,” said David Sargent, president of the Union of Cabin Crew.
“The steering committee was meant to oversee the restructuring. I feel we’re not being consulted enough.”
In an interview with The Sunday Times yesterday, Air Malta CEO Peter Davies confirmed the impending job losses and said the airline would shed one of its aircraft to bring it down to a fleet of 10.
Asked what impact this would have on staff, Mr Sargent said it all depended on the number of routes being operated but that possibly the 50 summer jobs for cabin crew could be affected.
Beyond staff reductions, however, Mr Sargent is doubtful whether the airline could survive the hectic summer season with 10 planes. “What will they do, rent a plane for the summer?” the union representative said.
Airline Pilots Association president Domenic Azzopardi said around 15 pilots had already taken unpaid leave to work abroad, “so we don’t have a problem with that”.
That said, he is angry that his union’s “free advice” to the airline is being ignored.
“Our problem is that the company can make loads of money with cargo but it’s dragging its feet; this was something which should have been done immediately,” Mr Azzopardi said. “Cargo is Air Malta’s salvation.”
Meanwhile, GWU general secretary Tony Zarb said it was unacceptable that 600 people would lose their job and that his union was working so that Air Malta employees would “not remain unemployed”. He did not specify whether that employment would be within the company or elsewhere, saying it was up for discussion.
dschembri@timesofmalta.com