Air Malta engineers are questioning the future direction of the company following the recent announcement on fleet downsizing.

The Association of Airline Engineers joined the Union of the Cabin Crew and the Airline Pilots Association’s in criticising the decision to use eight planes in summer and seven in winter instead of the present 10.

AAE president John Camilleri told the Times of Malta that though the company could, technically, improve aircraft utilisation, this would come at a cost and be very difficult to implement.

“We can definitely improve aircraft utilisation. However, this will mean more maintenance and, in case of a technical fault, which is common, schedule disruptions will be much bigger than they are now,” he said. 

“We feel the company has no direction or, if it has, we are being kept in total darkness. The unions are in despair because no one knows what is going on,” he said. 

He noted that at the time of former CEO Peter Davies, all the unions sat on a steering committee that discussed the restructuring programme and the decisions taken by the company to reach its five-year targets.

Mr Camilleri said that “unfortunately, [the steering committee] is not functioning any longer”. “Since the change in administration, the committee did not meet any more. We need to work together to save the airline and being kept in the dark is not helping,” he lamented.