Flight cancellations and massive delays on various routes marked the past weekend, with Air Malta bracing itself to try to avoid a repetition this coming long weekend due to “severe mismanagement” issues.

On Wednesday Air Malta said it was cancelling a flight to London Southend on Friday 'because of operational restrictions'. 

Top officials at the national airline on Monday told the Times of Malta that it was now appearing crystal clear that the flight schedule expansion, decided by Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, cannot be served adequately as the airline did not yet have the necessary resources, primarily enough aircraft and flight staff.

“The last weekend was one of the airline’s worst where it comes to customer relations,” a senior member of management said.

Read: Air Malta pilots refuse to fly airline's latest plane... and then change their mind

“We had to cancel and delay many flights as we have found ourselves without the necessary aircraft,” he said.

The airline has been inundated with complaints with many clients taking to social media to vent their frustration and vow not to fly Air Malta again.

LinkedIn hunt

KM officers told the Times of Malta that the situation was so “desperate” that Chief Commercial Officer Paul Sies had to make an unprecedented public announcement through social media asking companies to provide a plane to the national airline.

“Looking for a wet-lease A320/737 or larger for Sunday 3 June to operate 6 sectors from Malta,” Mr Sies wrote in his LinkedIn message asking recipients to mail him.

Air Malta cancelled at least three flights last weekend while the departure of another 13 flights from airports around Europe had to be rescheduled.

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Times of Malta is informed that the airline’s top management is now trying to avoid another “nightmare” scenario this week as more flights than normal are planned due to it being a long weekend.

The difficult situation is also taking its toll on the airline’s staff with many complaining of reaching their limit.

“Is anybody mentioning the staff shortage whenever our bosses issue press releases?” a cabin staff member asked.

“We are rostered to the legal limit month after month now,” he complained in internal KM communications seen by the Times of Malta.

“We really need good luck this time. In the past these were just unexpected events, nowadays they are part of our timetable. It takes years to build a reputation and just a few minutes to ruin it,” another staff member said.

Read: Hasty, unstudied decisions blamed for Air Malta's recent flight disruptions

“KM crew and staff are being pushed and stretched beyond their limits,” another staff member protested.

“This is a time bomb, but it seems that the strategists are not seeing the big picture so far or else it is somehow being ignored,” he said.

Walk before you can run

Airline industry sources told the newspaper that Air Malta is not in a position to honour its schedule as it has been expanded without the necessary plans.

“Before you can increase flights, one has to be in a position to cater for them. Unfortunately, this is the result of political instead of professional management as a proper airline should be run,” the sources said.

Soon after becoming Tourism Minister, Dr Mizzi reversed all the decisions taken by his predecessor Edward Zammit Lewis, by reintroducing routes that were stopped and increasing the flight network.

The airline has ordered another two planes to join its fleet, but delays from the manufacturers have thrown the airline’s plans in disarray.

“Serious managers know that planes are not always delivered on time and the minister was briefed on this. However, he still insisted that his plans should go ahead. Last weekend was the result of his lack of experience and stubbornness,” the sources said.

Asked to say what was being done to avoid a repetition and on whether it was appropriate for a top official of the airline to post a request for aircraft leasing on social media, Air Malta did not reply by the time of writing.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com