Air Malta workers' representatives are being kept in the dark in talks with the government and management, the airline's central representative council has said. 

In a statement, the CRC said that "nothing concrete" was being said at a series of meetings between it, airline management and government representatives, and that the CRC was "not being sufficiently informed" of what was going on. 

The government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Italian carrier Alitalia in April. The MOU is the first step in negotiations for Alitalia to buy a 49 per cent stake in Malta's national airline, and the government has said it will meet with Air Malta workers to keep it informed about the ongoing process. Alitalia is in turn 49 per cent owned by UAE airline Etihad.

In its statement, the CRC noted that the airline's collective agreements were long expired. It said it hoped that the Alitalia MOU would lead to workers' pay and conditions being improved. 

The CRC is made up of four representatives from the General Workers’ Union, one representative each from the Union of Cabin Crew (UCC), Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), and the Association of Airline Engineers (AEE), and a representative of staff at outstations.