The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said this afternoon it would sue the Airline Pilots' Association (ALPA), its representatives and its members in their personal capacity to recover any losses incurred by hotels and restaurants if the Air Malta pilots' strike goes ahead.

"The proposed strike is totally irresponsible and will not only risk crippling the national airline but will also cause untold damage to Malta’s image, the tourism industry and to the Maltese economy as a whole," the association said.

It said the strike was "against the nation and not only the national airline" and it lacked support, even from other Air Malta staff.

"ALPA and its representatives are being extremely simplistic in their approach and analysis of the situation and have refused to discuss the real problems of the airline in a responsible fashion. 

"Furthermore ALPA has not come clean on the real situation of many aspects pertaining to its members including the number of members it has on long term leave, the amount of hours worked per week and the number of pilots in the employment of the national airline working with other airlines, including low cost airlines," the association added.

It hoped the pilots' union would see sense and call off the strike threat.

See comments by Air Malta CEO at

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110713/local/alpa-s-notification-of-industrial-action-unfounded-air-malta-ceo.375357