Air Malta staff unions are insisting that the fleet reduction plan announced by the airline last week will not work.

They called upon the airline’s management to explain how the same routes could be operated and the same number of passengers carried with fewer planes.

Times of Malta also learnt that the national airline has informed the Union of Cabin Crew it would not renew the employment contracts of about 50 temporary flight attendants come November.

Air Malta last week confirmed what was reported by The Sunday Times of Malta in May: that it would be cutting its fleet by 30 per cent. Following a meeting with the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the airline said it would operate seven aircraft in winter and eight in summer.

The aim is to reduce costs related to aircraft leasing by some €8 million a year. But the company says it will not drop any routes and will carry the same number of passengers as it does now.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis has promised that Air Malta will not be shedding any staff. Unions representing pilots and cabin crew have doubts on the fleet reduction and said yesterday they could not understand how the airline could do the same work with three fewer planes.

“Our 10 planes are already fully utilised and operate at least two daily return flights. While we welcome any cost reduction, we are still waiting for the management to explain how they plan to fly the same routes and carry the same number of passengers with fewer aircraft,” Noel Mercieca, from the Union of Cabin Crew, said.

Mr Mercieca said the only thing the management had told them was that temporary cabin crew would not be retained.

The president of the pilots association, Dominic Azzopardi, said it would be very difficult to do the same work with fewer planes.

“When will they be doing the extra flights? During the night, when many airports are closed? Which planes will they get rid of? The larger ones or the ones with fewer seats?” .

The association has asked the management for the studies done on fleet reduction but was told they were still being carried out, he said.

An experienced airline captain, who insisted on anonymity, was less diplomatic. “These decisions show Air Malta does not know where it is heading. It is impossible to keep flying the same routes and carry the same number of passengers with fewer aircraft. And an airline needs to grow and develop. It seems Air Malta is doing the opposite.”

An experienced Air Malta engineer, who also preferred to remain unnamed, said it was already difficult for the airline to cope, in case of a technical hitch, with 10 aircraft. “As things stand, our schedules take two days to recover from a technical fault in one of our planes. You can just imagine what will happen with only seven aircraft,” he said.

The General Workers’ Union has not commented on the fleet reduction plan and the section secretary did not reply to a number of calls.

Asked how it could carry the same number of passengers with fewer aircraft, an Air Malta spokesman said this was the most significant change that could help the airline break even and was necessary for it to survive. “By increasing each aircraft’s utilisation to 14 hours per day and operate faster turnarounds, the airline can retain a similar schedule to what is currently being operated with 10 aircraft.

“Eventually, once the airline achieves its restructuring targets, the fleet will be increased in a controlled and sustainable manner as the airline works towards growth.”

The airline, the spokesman added, will continue to work on boosting productivity while meeting the requirements of the restructuring plan agreed with the EU Commission.