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Karl Stagno-Navarra
Government has formally called for all unions representing Air Malta employees to start discussions towards a renewed “rescue plan,” intended to ensure economic viability of the company without subsidies.
Speaking in Parliament last Thursday, Investments and IT Minister Austin Gatt was blunt to state that the choice of a second rescue plan was the only one, in which “government could guarantee no lay-offs”.
He stated though, that should the unions insist on renewing current collective agreements rather than a rescue plan, “then the regime would be totally different,” and cannot give any guarantee on employment.
While referring to the collapse of major airlines like Swiss Air and Sabena, Austin Gatt insisted that the first rescue plan negotiated with unions has left the desired results.
However, the national airline has tough challenges ahead, particularly revenue management and the dramatic impact the increase in oil prices has had on its operations.
This year alone, Air Malta’s fuel bill has increased by Lm6 million over last year, and this has increased the expenditure to a total of Lm12 million, notwithstanding an efficient hedging policy that has been in place for the last 20 years.
The situation at Air Malta is fragile, and during his speech in parliament, Minister Austin Gatt challenged the opposition to stop asking for employment guarantees.
“If the opposition believes it can, then I invite it to give this guarantee to Air Malta employees. However, if they could give it to Air Malta, they must not forget that they must also guarantee the same thing to dock workers or to all employees in the private sector” he said.
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