Government looking into ways of easing impact of Air Malta restructuring

Fenech said that during the meetings of the Air Malta restructuring committee, the appointed experts presented the different aspects of the restructuring plan being proposed for the national airline.

The ministry was reacting to complaints by the Labour Party that the committee monitoring the restructuring of the airline had not been told of any plans – reported in the Times – which could see the airline cut its workforce by half.

The European Commission has already approved a €52 million loan from government to Air Malta, on conditin that the company’s restructuing plan is approved within six months.

“Government understands that there will be important and difficult decisins to take to make the company viable again... The number of employees must reflect the operational needs at Air Malta, which is facing stronger competition than ever and higher fuel costs.”

Fenech said government was working towards guaranteeing the future of the airline, but accused the Opposition of riding on media speculation for its political gains.

The Times reported this morning that half of Air Malta’s 1,200-strong workforce could be shed as part of the rescue plan being explored. Civil aviation industry sources said the airline would need to shed about 600 employees to be able to operate profitably.

A  circular was issued to heads of government departments asking them to identify positions that could be filled by workers redeployed from Air Malta. The government is planning to employ as many redundant Air Malta employees as possible but this does not mean all of them will be redeployed with the public sector.

The sources said the steering committee working on the restructuring plan did not actually discuss redundancies but the report, being compiled, will go into each department and see how many workers the company could do without.

The plan is at “an advanced stage” and the government has now embarked on one-to-one meetings with union representatives to discuss the airline’s future in more detail.