After a flying career spanning four decades and 21,600 flying hours, Air Malta’s chief pilot Joe Maniscalco has retired.

The airline said Maniscalco was responsible for the airline’s flight crew, policy and procedure manuals, and the day to day running of the airline’s flight operations support. 

After operating his last flight, Maniscalco was greeted by Air Malta’s executive chairman David G. Curmi who congratulated him on his career.

Curmi thanked Maniscalco for his “contribution, loyalty, leadership, and passion for the airline and wished him a happy well-earned retirement”.

Maniscalco described a pilot’s job as “rewarding but challenging”. 

“Each flight is unique, with its changing weather conditions, airport, aircraft, crew, and passengers. Throughout my flying career, it always felt good to have a great Air Malta team onboard and this is all thanks to our professional crew. I look back at all these years and find many happy memories that I will treasure”

He thanked the management and staff at head office for their assistance during his term as chief pilot. 

Maniscalco joined Air Malta in November 1979 as a trainee clerk. Seven years later, he started flight training in Perth, Scotland. This was type rated on the Boeing 737-200. In July 1990, he also obtained type rating on the Airbus A320 in Toulouse, France.

At that time Air Malta was one of the first airlines to start using this fly-by-wire modern aircraft. A key milestone in his career was when he commanded his first flight in June 1995. He was appointed chief pilot in August 2018.