Air Malta was being “crippled” by Malta International Airport’s excessive charges, the airline’s pilots union said.

The union’s claim appears to echo that made by budget airline Ryanair, which described MIA’s charges as among the highest in Europe, an accusation rejected by the airport authorities.

In a statement, the pilots’ union said major issues in the draft restructuring plan presented to the committee by consultants Ernst and Young still needed to be “redressed”.

The restructuring plan needed to be implemented without any further delay and contracts that Air Malta had negotiated also needed to be redressed, the union said.

Carriage of cargo, in-flight catering, in-flight entertainment, aircraft cleaning, IT services, the call centre and other services which were outsourced in recent years had to be renegotiated.

Without going into further detail because of a confidentiality agreement, the union expressed its disapproval that a handful of companies “continue to make millions of euros” at the expense of the national airline.

“Air Malta can no longer afford to continue operating a service outside of its profit margins,” it said.

The restructuring plan has already been shot down by the union, the General Workers’ Union and the Labour Party.

The company is expected to shed half its workforce to be competitive and the plan being discussed has to be agreed upon with the European Commission by mid-May before permission is given to lend the airline €52 million for restructuring.

However, the union pointed out shedding jobs alone would not safeguard Air Malta’s future.

“The pilots’ union is not against redeployment of staff and in favour of exploiting the company’s last few assets to its maximum,” it added.

The union said it did not want history to repeat itself after another restructuring plan had failed in 2004 but would endorse a “carefully designed restructuring plan” in Air Malta’s interests and not one that protected the interests of selected individuals. It also welcomed Air Malta’s new CEO Peter Davies who agreed to take on the job in mid-April for a salary of around €500,000.

Although the union or the restructuring committee were not consulted over his selection, it said it still would extend its support by cooperating with him to resolve Air Malta’s current situation in the shortest time possible.

The union encouraged the­ ­public the send their feedback on Facebook where a site has been dedicated to Air Malta’s cause.