Air Malta has announced the reorganisation of its senior management structure.

Staff were informed of changes, aimed to enable the airline to move to its second phase of development, in an internal memo last week.

Chief Executive Peter Davies told the staff that the restructuring process, managed in a relatively short time, started showing results and everyone's efforts were beginning to bear fruit.

“Whilst we have achieved some significant milestones we are still not out of the woods. Much has still to be improved as we continue the vital path of profitability without which we cannot survive,” Mr Davies said.

To date, Air Malta’s organisational structure has reflected the first phase of its turnaround - the creation of a company that is focussed on delivering profits and to secure an improved balance and cash flow.

The airline now has to move to the next phase to enable its business prosperity. That required a change in Air Malta’s senior management structure.

Mr Davies announced that the airline was ready to enter this phase of development and move forward towards the goal of self-sufficiency and profitability.

“We need to consolidate the gains we have achieved and begin to map out our future. A future that will be determined as much by our capacity for change as it will be for our intellect in developing the right strategy for the airline.

“That has a bearing not just for us as professional airline employees but for the country. We must get it right,” he said.

Mr Davies said:

“We must begin to understand and plan our longer term future. We need to have a vision, a strategy that takes this airline forward, forward beyond that which is currently envisaged in restructuring plan, beyond 2016.”

He announced that the airline was entering a critical period of fine tuning through the intellectual application of Business Process Reengineering and said Air Malta needed to improve its efficiency and take advantage of new technology.

“This is not only required since customers are expecting more but also since the airline now needs to make a profit.

“To enable and facilitate this new focus as from March 1, Air Malta will operate through five main organisational business streams.”

These were commercial, operations, business services, flight operations and programme management.

Commercial

Under the direction of Chief Commercial Officer Philip Saunders, the airline registered a substantial increase in seat load factor and yield. It also successfully launched its new brand and the new website will be open for business in the coming few weeks

Going forward Mr Saunders and his team will continue to improve the revenue across all areas of the company business, which also cargo, as well as spearheading Air Malta’s new on board customer experience.

Operations

The second stream will concentrate on the pure operational elements of the organisation; processes that facilitate safety, efficiency and focus on despatch and reliability.

Further responsibilities were added to Chief Engineer Silvio Falzon that include ground operations and passenger handling.

By bringing all operational dependencies within one department Air Malta will be in a better position to focus on the core operational opportunities. Elements of the airline’s Operations Control Function will also come under Mr Falzon’s direction. He will now be the airline’s Chief Operations Officer.

Business Services

Air Malta depends upon support from finance, information tTechnology and human resources. Nick Xuereb will be assuming responsibility for these functions while continuing to be Chief Financial Officer.

Flight Operations

Air Malta will soon be introducing the concept of a Safety Management System which forms part of an overall European Commission initiative designed to encompass all aspect of airline safety. This will affect every person in the airline industry including Air Malta.

Captain Mark Micallef Eynaud will continue in his Chief Officer Flight Operations role but will have the added responsibility of the SMS. He will also assume responsibility of Occupational Health and Safety.

Programme Management

Since the Programme Management Office was introduced, it has been managed by Air Malta’s external consultants, Catalise. That contract, and their specific work is nearing its end and the full responsibility now needs to be transferred fully to Air Malta’s management team.

The first phase of this department’s life was to create the improved Restructuring Plan for the approval by the European Commission as well as to establish the framework, work groups and work flows necessary to begin the changes in the airline.

That expertise did not exist in the company and Catalise did a great job in providing that. The next phase needed to take that impetus and concept forward and continue changing and facilitating the way in which Air Malta carried out its business.

Joshua Zammit will head this stream as Chief Officer Programme Management that now includes a team of local project management professionals.