Air Malta withdraws injunction against pilots' union in goodwill gesture

Air Malta has withdrawn a warrant of prohibitory injunction against the pilots’ union over a set of directives that had been issued last summer.

The company said on Tuesday that it would be withdrawing the injunction to continue talks with ALPA.

“As a further sign of goodwill and to promote the spirit of good intent, the company has also agreed without prejudice, to bear the court expenses related to the case in question,” Air Malta said in a statement.

Talks between the carrier and its pilots are expected to commence again on Monday, in order to resolve all pending matters, while ensuring “industrial peace for the wellbeing of all employees in the company”, the airline said.

Air Malta said that once matters are resolved, there will be a guarantee of further growth and prosperity for the airline and its employees

The airline had filed a court case against ALPA and members of its executive committee, asking the court to declare July's industrial action as illegal.

The airline had also said that the industrial action breached the collective agreement and was not covered by the legal protections of an industrial dispute.

The airline had also demanded damages.

Pilots had threatened to delay all Air Malta flights after talks on a new collective agreement reached an impasse. The airline had claimed in court that the reason for the dispute was the union's insistance for a government guarantee in case the airline closed down. The government said it was barred by EU regulations from offering any such guarantee.

On the other hand, ALPS had insisted that the action was taken over a dispute on threats and intimidation by the flight operations chief in April 2019.

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