Air Malta can proceed with plans to make 69 of its pilots redundant, a court has ruled, though a request by the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) to stop demotions of another 30 pilots has been upheld. 

In a decision handed down on Friday, judge Toni Abela ruled that the courts do not have the power to stop the redundancies because the decision had already come into force. 

Earlier in June, the pilots’ union had obtained a temporary warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop Air Malta and the government from proceeding with plans to lay off the 69 pilots. The move came hours after the had announced it had sacked the pilots after talks failed. 

Air Malta had said the union had insisted on a €73 million early retirement pay-out. Meanwhile, ALPA had accused the airline of using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to do away with the current conditions of employment.

No demotions

While the redundancies can go ahead, the court ruled that Air Malta’s demotions plans could not, which meant the rank of some 30 of the remaining pilots cannot be downgraded. 

In a post on Facebook, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri, who is responsible for the airline, said the courts had proved that Air Malta was right to make the pilots redundant. 

“The pilots had not accepted that, like all the other employees, they had to do their part in these circumstances,” Schembri said. 

The minister went on to urge the pilots to “not be hard-headed” and to vote in favour of the proposals on the table come Tuesday, when talks are set to resume.