Air Malta has rejected a pilots' offer of a 50% pay cut during the COVID-19 crisis but has reduced the number of pilots it wants to sack, the ALPA trade union said on Wednesday.

The union is in dispute with the airline after it gave notice last month of plans to sack 108 pilots unless then agreed to a monthly pay of €1,200 until normal operations were resumed. The request was made as flight operations ground to a halt when travel to and from Malta was banned by the health authorities.

The union had rejected the company's pay cut proposal, which it said would have amounted to up to 80% of pilots' pay.

The deadline for the declaration of the redundancies is Thursday.

ALPA said it had had three meetings with the airline's management.

"Air Malta has now changed its mind and it (has) informed ALPA that the company requires 62 pilots rather than 26 as originally envisaged, forcing a different form of discussions, just a few days before redundancies take effect," the union said.

This only materialised after it pressured management to explain post-Covid-19 recovery plans.

"Air Malta now foresees the need for a four to five-aircraft fleet rather than one to two aircraft as declared barely three weeks ago. This plan extends till the end of summer 2023."

The union said its representatives called for a proper restructuring plan, including a fair across-the-board 'trimming exercise' since Air Malta is undeniably 'very top heavy'.

It said the airline had demanded substantial changes to the collective agreement, including more restrictive clauses on the settlement of disputes. 

"The company must not the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to undermine collective agreements which are in force till the end of 2022," the union insisted.

ALPA said it could not understand how a request to the Department of Industrial Relations for further talks was dismissed by the airline.

It said that 'some elements' in the management team 'seem to be intent on having talks fail'.

"The obscene approach with regards to the association’s representatives is not conducive to a mutually beneficial outcome, and in the best interests of the airline itself, these elements must be weeded out," it said. 

ALPA said it also 'repeatedly' submitted proposals for a 50% paycut for the duration of the COVid-19 period, without excluding the possibility of further talks. The proposal was rejected without adequate explanation.