Air Malta engages four foreign pilots

Air Malta has decided to engage four foreign pilots, after the national airline has been boasting about an aggressive restructuring programme which included phasing out many Maltese experienced pilots.

Air Malta has been facing tough times, with a restructuring programme that saw the redundancy of hundreds of workers and their replacement with a foreign management.

The engagement of the four first officers will kick off in April, when they will also begin their simulator training.

News of the new recruitment drive came in the wake of the announcement that Air Malta’s chief officer of finance, Nick Xuereb, has resigned from his post.

Yesterday, the Union of Cabin Crew lodged an industrial dispute with Air Malta's management over the refusal of ad hoc leave to cabin crew members who work on their days off.

The cabin crew have been asked to reschedule their rosters innumerable times and have reported for duty on most of their days off. This has resulted in some members of the crew reaching their contractual 12-month flying maximum limit and have been temporarily prohibited from flying.