Air Malta yesterday said that it would not allow any single category of staff to jeopardise the livelihood of the 1,400 families that directly depended on it.

The comments were aimed at the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), as the airline called for a meeting to appoint a conciliator amid a fresh dispute. The association last Friday issued a work-to-rule directive in connection with collective agreement measures it says were not implemented.

But in a statement last night, Air Malta said it was concerned at the constantly negative attitude shown by ALPA over the last 22 months.

It said that following the signing of the collective agreement between Air Malta and ALPA in January 2008, it expected relations between the union and the airline to improve and hoped both entities would work together in the interests of the airline and its pilots.

"Unfortunately this did not materialise and ALPA, immediately upon signing the agreement, restarted its negative, insensitive and threatening approach in each and every matter it was discussing with the airline," it said.

"This attitude persisted on the absolute majority of issues being discussed, including the insurance policy for the loss of licence for pilots above the age of 55."

Air Malta said it offered ALPA a comprehensive 'Loss of License' cover for the pilots who are over 55, in line with expert advice. This offer would have ensured the continued well-being of Air Malta pilots if they lost their licence.

It said ALPA's request would have rewarded pilots with excessive compensation and would have encouraged pilots to lose their licence once they reached 55.