Updated 10.20am with pilots' reaction
Air Malta captains and first officers fly an average of 55 hours a month, well below the EU safety threshold, Times of Malta has learnt.
Industry sources said pilots with the airline each fly an average of 660 hours a year. The EU safety standard is set at 900 hours.
European directives state that crew members cannot serve on flights for more than 900 hours per calendar year and 100 hours in any 28 consecutive days.
The monthly average of 55 flight hours was a conservative estimate, the sources said, adding that it fell far short of the minimum standards set by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
“Captains and first officers with Air Malta have a low workload when compared to their counterparts in other airlines, which is why their claims for compensation appear all the more exorbitant,” the sources added.
They noted that part of the problem was that the Maltese airline had too many pilots for a fleet of eight planes and their utilisation rate. “This is an issue different administrations have failed to address, which sees the airline staffed by too many pilots on very good wages.”
Pilots are obeying a dress-down directive to protest delays in concluding a new collective agreement. The Airline Pilots Association has threatened to escalate industrial action over the summer months.
The airline has obtained a court injunction to stop pilots from intensifying industrial action. This was temporarily upheld until the court case is heard on July 22.
The government is having talks with Alitalia over the sale of a 49 per cent stake in Air Malta and a business plan outlining the way forward is expected to be finalised by the end of the month.
The airline has been wary of talks on collective agreements with the four unions before the business plan is concluded
The government and Alitalia signed a memorandum of understanding in April, which included an undertaking by the government to ensure Air Malta’s work force would be the “right size and right shape”.
The airline has been wary of initiating talks on collective agreements with the four unions before the business plan is concluded but has held exploratory talks. In its injunction application, Air Malta said the pilots’ action threatened the talks with Alitalia and risked crippling the airline financially.
Pilots want a 30 per cent rise in their basic salary and changes to a point-based system that translates into monetary bonuses at the end of each month.
Alpa is demanding a guaranteed minimum of 165 points per month for its members, irrespective of how many flights they operate.
The points would be remunerated at higher rates than they are at present.
The claims will cost Air Malta an additional €6 million, according to civil aviation industry sources. The airline’s current wage bill on pilots alone works out to €11 million.
Air Malta has 118 active pilots, two on long sick leave and another two on long leave. The average gross pay per pilot is in the region of €93,000.
Air Malta chairwoman Maria Micallef, writing in Times of Malta last Monday, called on the pilots to be reasonable. She described their claims and industrial action as “callous behaviour” as they put in jeopardy the airline’s financial viability and endangered talks with Alitalia.
'We have lost all trust in management' - pilots
Meanwhile in a statement this morning, ALPA lashed out at the article written by the Air Malta chairperson, claiming it verged on the malicious and does not present facts in an objective manner.
They said the application filed by Air Malta in the courts to ask for the issue of a prohibitory injunction against ALPA constitutes a clear threat to the right of free association of workers, as well as to their entitlement to safeguard as a last option these rights by resorting to industrial action.
The quoted value of financial claims made by ALPA does not reflect the truth and is intended to alienate public opinion against Air Malta pilots
The pilots said the quoted value of financial claims made by ALPA does not reflect the truth and is intended to alienate public opinion against Air Malta pilots.
"Air Malta pilots have long been held in high esteem in terms of the standards of work ethic and a track history with a high security record level which speaks for itself. On the other hand, ALPA is of the opinion that the same cannot be said about the performance of the management of Air Malta, which is burdened with a history of erroneous business decisions," the statement said.
The pilots pointed out at management emoluments which run into thousands of euros and which have contributed to bringing the airline to its precarious state. Should Air Malta truly embrace transparency, it should proceed to publish the remuneration packages of its senior management following which the public would be in a better position to evaluate the dispute on facts rather than plain conjecture, it said.
Among other "unwise business decisions", ALPA highlighted the reduction by Air Malta of its aircraft fleet which in itself resulted in an immediate lowering of the airline's market share.
ALPA said it was disappointed and preoccupied at the manner in which its negotiations with Air Malta have been handled and the way details were made public.
"In view of these reasons, finally ALPA would like to declare that it has lost its trust in the current management of Air Malta."