Cabin crew complement

I refer to the front page article (March 27) which contains several inaccuracies and half truths.

Quoting the government investments ministry, the article implies that by reducing one cabin crew member from the low cost Fare4U flight to Stansted Air Malta will be saving Lm160,000 on 156 flights per year - an incredible Lm1,000 per flight! Using the same calculator this means that an Air Malta cabin crew member earns in excess of Lm175,000 a year.

On the subject of crew reduction, readers will be interested to note that the Union of Cabin Crew (UCC) had understood this concept since 1998 when an agreement was reached with Air Malta to reduce the number of cabin crew on certain flights, like charter flights and scheduled flights to Catania, Palermo and Tunis. On all other mainline full service scheduled flights the crew complement deployed varies according to passenger loads and type of service offered. Additional crew members have, for years, been utilised only when required.

This means that the UCC has always understood and actively participated in cost saving initiatives even before the 9/11 crisis. Such an open minded approach to airline affairs is far from the confrontational stance that the spokesman for the ministry is implying the UCC has adopted in the face of the present situation.