A pilot has been awarded €18,000 in compensation after an industrial tribunal ruled that his employer had discriminated against him.

Neil John Pavia had claimed that Medavia, his employer, was not paying him at the same rate as other pilots.

This meant that the company was not giving equal pay for work of equal value.

According to Mr Pavia the company was discriminating against Maltese pilots for it was paying certain foreign pilots more than it paid him.

Medavia claimed that the distinctions in the pay received by pilots was based upon their flying hours experience, so the distinction was justified.

The tribunal noted that the list of employees exhibited by Mr Pavia did not tally with that issued by the Employment Training Corporation.

It resulted that Mr Pavia was licensed to pilot Casa 212 aircraft which had to be flown by a captain and a first officer but he was not licensed to fly the other types of aircraft owned by the company.

It further resulted that Mr Pavia worked for 20 days and was then given 10 days off.

Other pilots worked on a 28 day on and 28 day off system and not only did they have more rest time, but they also earned more than Mr Pavia.

Medavia argued that one could not compare the work of First Officers on the basis of their license or Type Rating.

It distinguished between its pilots on the basis of their experience and flying hours and also on the fact that some pilots were licensed to fly more than one type of aircraft, unlike Mr Pavia.

But the tribunal, presided over by Dr Leslie Cuschieri, concluded that Mr Pavia was to be compared with all the other first officers who had the same number of flight hours.

The tribunal found that another pilot who had less hours earned €900 more per month.

It concluded that since Mr Pavia had been in employment for one year and 10 months, he was due €18,000 in compensation.

Medavia shall be appealing the decision.