The grounding of Cyprus Airways following instructions by the European Commission for the airline to pay back its state aid must be taken as a wakeup call by all  stakeholders of Air Malta particularly the employees who seem to think that Air Malta will never go bust, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said.

"They now have a reality check with what has happened to Cyprus Airways.
MHRA has already stated that it finds it completely unacceptable that the cabin crew are taking industrial action to stop restructuring changes from being implemented.
The Maltese people have spent over €150 million of their money through the government of Malta to save the company and their jobs," the association said.

"By their actions the cabin crew are risking the loss of this huge public investment if Air Malta closes down. The cabin crew or the people working at Airmalta are not the only stakeholders of the Airline. The Maltese public through their government's investment and the many thousands of people who work in the tourism, manufacturing and financial services sector are also the stakeholders of Air
Malta. These will also be affected."

The association said the time had come for the airline management to make it clear to employees that they had two choices. Either to accept the necessary restructuring which will enable Airmalta to survive or else to find another job outside the company.

The MHRA asked which loss making company provided a chauffeur service from the place of residence to and from the place of work. Which company in Malta offered practically free travel to all its employees and their spouses?

"The list goes on free health benefits, practically free travel even after leaving the company and soon. MHRA calls on the management of the company to implement the restructuring necessary and immediately as failure to do so will result in Air Malta failing," the association said. It was not acceptable that a small minority of employees held the nation to ransom.