Air Malta has embarked on a recruitment drive to employ pilots and cabin crew, a year after it shed hundreds of employees in a restructuring aimed at saving it from collapse.

The national airline has advertised vacancies for first officers and cabin crew as well as ancillary jobs such as a ground operations technical support specialist, a ground handling contracts manager and a duty manager for airport operations.

There is no way the airline can operate all its planned flights without recruiting more staff- Anonymous airline employee

Sources close to Air Malta said the recruitment drive was intended to allow the airline to operate both its upcoming summer schedule and planned winter schedule.

Air Malta is advertising the vacancies online.

“There is no way the airline can operate all its planned flights without recruiting more staff,” an employee said on condition of anonymity.

The airline is planning to recruit 30 new cabin crew. It is not known how many first officers are needed. In recent months, Air Malta has employed several part-time cabin crew to be able to operate its winter schedule. Sources said most were teachers who board a plane after their classroom duties and return to class the following morning. 

Airline's workforce halved to save wages

Last year, Air Malta started shedding a record number of workers in a last-ditch attempt to cut costs and remain solvent. The changes formed part of a restructuring plan announced by the government in February last year.

The plan was intended to halve the airline’s workforce in a bid to save around €15 million in annual wages.

An initial government pledge to offer workers different jobs within the public sector at the same pay had to be amended a few months later to include the offer of lucrative severance packages.

One employee told Times of Malta that it would have cost more for the airline to retain long-serving employees – whose take-home pay includes perks accumulated over the years – than to take on new recruits at far lower wages.

“The calculation is that Air Malta could employ three new full-time staffers for every one who left,” the employee said.

However, this calculation does not include the packages offered for taking early or voluntary retirement – anything between €40,000 and €300,000, depending on years of service.

Other staffers who fell under an older collective agreement were offered a government job with the same pay package as the one they enjoyed with Air Malta, but many were not happy with this option so they chose to stay on with the airline.

They are, however, hoping that the government will offer them a lump sum payment to leave. Roughly two-thirds to three quarters of those who remained would go for this option should it be offered to them, sources close to the employees said.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told parliament last month that 351 former Air Malta workers had opted to take the Early Retirement Scheme or the Voluntary Redundancy Scheme.

Caruana was replying to a question by PN MP Ivan Bartolo who also asked for the total amount disbursed. The finance minister did not reply to that question.