The difficult financial situation in which Air Malta has found itself calls for a sense of urgency and responsibility to finalise the restructuring plan that will, hopefully, see the national airline operating once again successfully without the need of state aid.

There are signs this sense of urgency and responsibility is somewhat lacking and that some bottlenecks still need to be eliminated to ensure the airline’s restructuring plan is completed by the mid-May deadline set by the EU. A key consultant on Air Malta’s restructuring team who was apparently earmarked as a future CEO for the restructured company is apparently no longer being considered for this post, even if the Minister of Finance says he is still acting as a consultant.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association has expressed concern about the slow progress achieved so far in the finalisation of the airline’s revival plan. It complained “Malta is running fast out of time”. The MHRA is worried that, in spite of the fact that the consultants were afforded two additional months to complete the restructuring plan, the Finance Ministry felt the need to send it back to the consultants to implement fundamental changes.

The General Workers’ Union and the pilots’ union criticised the report prepared by the Ernst & Young consultants, even if few details of the study have so far been made public because of the confidentiality agreement binding the parties participating in the steering committee. The Minister of Finance has, however, confirmed that about 600 workers are likely to be shed from Air Malta’s workforce.

The Labour opposition joined the unions in criticising the restructuring plan and commented in a rather arcane way that “Air Malta needed to broaden its horizons to become stronger but this did not appear to be the government’s aim”. The Finance Minister reacted by accusing the opposition of “doing its best to undermine the airline’s restructuring process and only made criticism instead of suggesting solutions”.

In the absence of details about the plan itself, it is difficult for independent analysts to comment on whether any of the concerns raised are justified. One thing is certain though, the members of the steering committee representing the various stakeholders are at loggerheads with each other on how to proceed. That is a bad omen.

Time is now beginning to run out for Air Malta. Unless an agreement is reached between all stakeholders soon, it will be increasingly difficult to strike a good bargain with the EU negotiators who still need to define the conditions under which they would allow the injection of €52 million by the government in the airline. It is equally important that the Ernst & Young consultants show their mettle by coming up with a credible plan that can withstand the tough scrutiny of both local stakeholders and the EU negotiators.

The time may have come for the President of the Republic to instil some life in the flagging process of defining Air Malta’s revival plan by taking an active role to bridge the difference between the parties sitting on the steering committee. The respect the President enjoys from all the parties involved in this process could be the catalyst that brings about the much-needed cooperation to reach a broad consensus on the way ahead for the national carrier.

The economic challenges facing the Maltese economy in the coming few years make it a matter of critical urgency to see Air Malta’s revival plan take off.