The collective agreement signed a few days ago between Air Malta and the Airline Pilots Association was a win-win agreement designed to ensure increased
operational flexibility, Air Malta said this evening.

Reacting to a story giving details about the agreement and published in The Times today, the airline said that it will lead to better management of its
operational costs.

Air Malta said the real cost of the agreement was the net difference between the gains achieved by the company through negotiation, and the headline figure
quoted in the article.

The real cost for the airline would result in a far smaller figure than that cited, it said.

Air Malta reiterated that the collective agreement signed with ALPA was negotiated within the same parameters of the discussions undertaken
with other unions.

It met the requirements of the restructuring plan approved by the European Commission and wasin-line with airline's financial constraints.

Any changes to the collective agreement were the result of a give-and-take approach adopted by both parties and related to productivity and efficiency gains.

Air Malta explained that the agreement was reached after marathon and
very difficult discussions whereby both sides discussed proposals aimed
at achieving workable solutions strictly within the airline's budget and
current operational realities.

"It is significant that both the airline and the union understood each other's position and worked in a spirit of collaboration to achieve a workable solution."

See also:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121012/local/Air-Malta-forks-out-4-5m-for-pilots.440704