Finance Minister Clyde Caruana is expected to present Air Malta’s cabin crew with a cost-cutting plan “soon” as part of the government’s bid to save the ailing airline.
“There are further decisions that I need to announce to the cabin crew union,” he told Times of Malta.
“We need to cut more costs if we want a national airline. We cannot sustain an airline with eight planes at the current expense.”
Those are the only numbers that can save Air Malta. No other numbers make a Maltese national airline feasible.- Finance Minister Clyde Caruana
He would not say, however, whether cabin crew should expect a pay cut or a golden handshake to encourage them to leave the airline.
In January, the government announced plans to slash Air Malta’s workforce by half as part of its cost-cutting plan. Back then, Caruana had said it could be the “last chance” to save the struggling airline.
Since then, 574 workers have accepted one of the government’s offers to leave the company. Some were transferred to the public service and others opted for generous early retirement schemes.
Caruana said yesterday 40 were still awaiting a public sector job while 50 employees who opted for the scheme would receive their sum this week and the rest by the end of the month.
Wage cut, longer hours for pilots
On Sunday, MaltaToday reported that, in a meeting with the Airline Pilots Association last week, Caruana informed them they would have to fly more hours and take a 15 per cent wage cut if they wanted to stay.
They were reportedly offered the option of taking an early retirement scheme and leaving the airline with no possibility of government employment or remaining employed with the airline under the new conditions. There was no room for discussion.
Caruana would not divulge any details from the meeting, confirming only that it happened last Thursday and that he had laid out a plan that would see Air Malta survive.
“I presented them with the conditions necessary for the airline to be feasible. They are conditions that emerged from a business plan drafted by international consultants,” he said.
“Those are the only numbers that can save Air Malta. No other numbers make a Maltese national airline feasible.”
Asked whether the measures relating to pilots were enough to save the airline, Caruana insisted more restructuring was needed.
He refused to give details about the cabin crew’s new conditions but said he needed to communicate with their union and wait for a go-ahead from the European Commission before he could publicly announce any decisions.
The government is asking Brussels to authorise state aid for the airline. The talks have been ongoing for months.
“Whether it’s Air Malta or another national airline, it needs a multi-million capital injection to survive and the decisions we are taking are necessary for the commission to give us the go-ahead so the government can inject this state aid,” he said.