Why Air Malta’s fate falls in line with Sea Malta's

There are times when saying ‘I told you so’ does not bring the smug satisfaction one imagines it would. On the contrary. It brings a sense of sadness at having switched on the red light, which was ignored with serious consequences. The Air Malta story currently unfolding is just that – a sad story.

Just before the 2008 elections, I had written a short article published in the Times, entitled ‘Lest we forget’ (reproduced below).

Unfortunately, this article has proven to be prophetic… and not because I possess some divine powers, but because, feet well on the ground, I experienced the way the Nationalist government operates, through that other sad experience called Sea Malta. In one of his Sunday interventions, Dr Gonzi, eager to garner each and every vote, referred to this article, and called it a just scaremongering exercise.

But my article was neither written to scare, nor was it penned on a whim. I watched Minister Gatt, in charge of the late Sea Malta, enjoy tearing down the company bit by bit, ignoring the warnings and the suggestions which could have saved the national shipping line’s business, jobs, and know-how. Instead, the government saw fit to award the luxury of a monopoly to a foreign company on a silver platter, scot-free. I saw a company with great potential being trodden and crushed, and like everyone else, heard the Minster in charge getting his kicks brandishing the inefficiencies of the Maltese run company and bragging about the merits of the foreign shipping company which was to take over.

I heard minister Austin Gatt inform the parliament about how much the taxpayer was forking out for Sea Malta’s upkeep, when this was an outright lie. The taxpayer never paid one cent to Sea Malta, but nobody flinched at such outrageous statements – which served only the Minister and his government’s agenda. I saw a company which was recovering, being liquidated at the speed of light before the minister could be proven wrong. Saving the minster’s face was more important than saving jobs, you see! It is worth noting that Sea Malta was not privatised – as is commonly referred to in the media. It was demolished, with no financial benefit to the country.

I was seeing each and every entity run by us Maltese, being sold to foreign interests – Mid Med Bank, Malta International Airport, the Freeport, Maltacom, the Lotteries, Tug Malta, the Shipyards. I was witnessing a government who had, indeed has, no faith in its own capabilities – I suspect it has none – and therefore failed to appreciated the potential of Maltese entrepreneurship and managerial talent. Minster Tonio Fenech, perhaps inspired by Our Lady Herself, expressed the philosophy of his government superbly, when he stated that he will stay clear of appointing  a ‘cuc malti’. We all realise the veracity of this callous statement, which has exposed the philosophy of a government that has sold just about every silver ingot found in our coffers to foreign interests – a clear admittance of gross incompetence and irresponsible governance.

Let me make this clear: I have absolutely nothing against foreign input and entrepreneurship. Indeed, they are necessary and to be encouraged – but not at the cost of eliminating and annihilating Maltese talent and interests. Nor am I in agreement with strategies which transfer monopoly from a government holding to private interests – especially when dealing with strategic entities – resulting in increased costs for all round with serious consequences on our competitiveness.

It is with this scenario in mind that I had written the following article. I saw the writing on the wall for Air Malta, and this is what I wrote three years ago.

Lest we forget…

In one of the many speeches during this electoral campaign, Dr Gonzi was reported to have stated that his government has ruled out the privatisation of the national airline, Air Malta. Dr Gonzi was reported to have said: “We need the guarantee of a national airline which is ours and not in the hands of someone who can decide to close it on any day and crush us”. He was also reported to have said that in order for Malta to be turned into a centre of excellence “…continuous accessibility to Europe and Africa was imperative.” (‘Gonzi rules out Air Malta privatisation’ – The Times, 21 February, 2008).

I am in complete agreement with Dr Gonzi and I am pleased to note his awareness and appreciation of the particular requirements of an island State on the periphery of Europe. However, I am afraid that such statements, made on the eve of an election, may be nothing more than a vote-catching strategy aimed at attracting the votes of the hundreds of Air Malta employees and their families. The credibility of this statement can be weighed against recent history concerning another company, Sea Malta, briefly outlined below.

Some years ago, the Nationalist government made an unequivocal statement singling out three companies to be shielded from privatisation as they were considered to be of strategic importance to Malta. These companies were Air Malta, Gozo Channel and Sea Malta. The statement that the government will not privatise these three companies was not made in some speech somewhere ‘taht it-tinda’. Nor was it made in some television programme. Nor was it made preaching to the converted in a mass meeting. No, Sir!  This statement was included in a solemn speech, commonly known as ‘speech from the throne’, which outlined the most important strategies, policies and commitments of the elected government, delivered by no less than H.E. the President of the Republic in the House of Representatives on the occasion of the opening of Parliament of the 2003-2008 legislature.

Contrary to the government’s own declared policies, as everybody knows, one of these companies, Sea Malta, is no longer around.

 In fact, barely two years down the line, mockery was made of this solemn speech and contrary to its contents, Sea Malta was annihilated from the face of the earth. Having failed to sell the company (and, at least, getting some cash for the national coffers), the government opted to go for its liquidation. 33 years of business and goodwill were awarded scot free to a foreign company; the vast shipping and maritime knowledge of 125 employees – many trained at the expense of public funds – flushed down the drain; and the company’s assets disposed of without real knowledge of what they were really worth.

Our only national shipping line – the one which ensured “… continuous accessibility to Europe…” correctly considered imperative by Dr Gonzi – has become a monopoly in the hands of a foreign company, or in the PM’s words, potentially ‘… in the hands of someone who can decide to close it on any day and crush us.’The PM must have remembered the many times shipping lines came and left, leaving industry in a lurch (with Sea Malta being there to mop up the mess) because ‘someone’in some boardroom far away decided that Malta was not a good deal for the bottom line. Well, Sea Malta is no longer there to provide solace to the industry, and so I will not be surprised if the PM is having nightmares about such scenario hitting the airline sector.  

 In view of the above, it is therefore legitimate to question the weight of the PM’s statement with regards to the future of Air Malta. History and a track record of this government with regards to privatisations, as well as the government’s blatant turn- around on its own declarations, seriously dent Dr Gonzi’s credibility in this regard. I am convinced that Dr Gonzi never wanted to dispose of the national shipping line, for the same very valid reasons he said that he will not do so with the national airline. But facts show that what Prime Minister Gonzi wants may be overruled by other agendas.

I suppose that as long as we are regaled with Ministers who, while enjoying publicly flirting with their PDAs, also publicly bet on who will lose their jobs next, I do not think that, despite Dr Gonzi’s statement, Air Malta employees or their families can sleep easy at night. One down, two to go…

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I will leave it to the readers to decide, with the benefit of hindsight as well as with the current situation at Air Malta in mind, whether my warning deals a dent in the credibility of Dr Gonzi and his government, or was merely a scaremongering exercise.

For the sake of Air Malta, its employees and the country, all I can say at this point is: How I wish I were wrong!

Marlene Mizzi was chairman of Sea Malta and a Labour candidate for the European Parliament.