A presentation by Air Malta’s top management in the presence of the Tourism Minister yesterday did little to allay workers’ concerns about their future, Times of Malta has learnt.

The meeting was called in the wake of the signing of a memorandum of understanding a few weeks ago as the government moves ahead with its plans to sell a 49 per cent stake of the national air carrier to Alitalia.

In a statement, the Tourism Ministry said worker representatives were briefed by Air Malta chairwoman Maria Micallef on the financial situation, on talks to find a strategic partner and about the government’s vision for the company.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Louis and President Emeritus George Abela, who is mediating between the government and the various trade unions representing Air Malta workers’ interests, also addressed the meeting.

Noting that further information meetings were planned for the coming weeks, the ministry said workers had the opportunity to put questions, which, it noted, were answered.

However, civil aviation sources told the Times of Malta workers left the meeting with more questions than answers because none of the speakers committed themselves to anything, constantly pointing out that nothing had been decided yet.

“When asked if our jobs were in the balance, we were told no final decisions had been taken so far because talks were still under way,” a workers’ representative said.

When asked if our jobs were in the balance, we were told no final decisions had been taken so far because talks were still under way

This newspaper reported last month that Air Malta’s partial privatisation would result in the breaking away of the engineering department and the ground-handling section, which would no longer be part of the airline. The workers affected by such a move would be retained on the government’s books in similar fashion to the fate of Enemalta employees who became redundant following the sale of a minority stake to a Chinese State-owned energy company.

When asked to confirm or deny such reports, none of the speakers at yesterday’s meeting gave a definitive reply, the sources said. “I am at a complete loss on what to report back to my members because, in reality, very little has come out of this meeting,” a union representative who did not wish to be identified told this newspaper.

Though no definite time frames were given by the government, Dr Zammit Lewis has indicated that a final decision would be taken at the end of technical talks that are expected to take till the end of next month.

Alitalia, which until a few years ago was on the brink of going bust, is nowadays 49 per cent owned by the UAE’s Etihad Airways, a move that was crucial to the Italian carrier’s survival.  Times of Malta said last week that the memorandum of understanding was only signed when a second round of talks had been held after earlier negotiations had broken down late last year forcing the government to scale down its demands.

A fortnight ago, Alitalia chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo stirred controversy when he referred to the latest talks as a “zero-risk deal”, saying the Italian carrier would not invest a single euro in Air Malta.

Dr Zammit Lewis repeatedly said the deal would only go through if it would be beneficial to Air Malta.