Air Malta pilots are not wearing their caps and jackets to work in protest over delays in their new collective agreement, the Times of Malta has learnt.
The industrial action was ordered by the Airline Pilots Association and has been in force since Sunday. Alpa president Dominic Azzopardi said the union had called a meeting for members this morning to discuss the situation and decide whether to escalate the action.
“The collective agreement expired six months ago, and we are nowhere near a new deal. The dress-down directive is intended as a sign of protest,” he said.
Capt. Azzopardi insisted the collective agreement was not linked to the ongoing talks the government was having with Alitalia over the part-privatisation of the national airline. “It is irrelevant what decision is taken in that respect; the collective agreement has to be concluded.”
However, he said the action was also in part motivated by the way things were being handled over the privatisation process, lamenting the lack of information.
Similar concerns were expressed last week by Air Malta’s Works Council, which brings together all the unions at the airline.
Capt. Azzopardi said nothing else was heard after April, when the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Italian carrier over the sale of a 49 per cent stake in Air Malta.
“We are not informed of the progress of the talks. We are being kept in the dark, and whenever the subject is raised, they tell us all there is at this stage is a memorandum of understanding,” he said.
The government has said all along that it would retain a majority stake in Air Malta, but the prospective share sale came in for some heavy criticism after comments by Alitalia boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.
In May, Mr Montezemolo was quoted saying that if the deal went ahead, it would be a “zero-risk” operation for Alitalia. It would not cost a euro and it would open up interesting connections with Sicily, he said.
Tourism operators expressed concern the deal could see Air Malta transform into a feeder airline for the Italian company.
Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis weighed in on the debate, insisting Air Malta would “never” become a feeder airline and a strategic partnership with Alitalia would not go ahead unless it benefited Malta. He also said the government was guaranteeing Air Malta workers’ jobs and working conditions.
When the memorandum of understanding was signed in April, Air Malta chairwoman Maria Micallef said the deal was still in its early stages and hoped the technical negotiations would be concluded by the end of July.
Alitalia was saved from bankruptcy in 2014 after Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates bought a 49 per cent stake. The airline is expected to become profitable by 2017.
The search for a strategic partner for Air Malta follows the same pattern and comes at the end of a five-year restructuring process imposed by the EU after the government stepped in to save the airline from folding in 2010.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com