Some top Air Malta officials were aware of an employee’s private side business coordinating charter flights in direct competition with the airline, Times of Malta is informed.
An official statement issued by the company earlier this week distanced itself from a private charter flight arranged by the employee, Joffrey Mallia.
Last Monday, a group of young footballers and their parents were left stranded in Denmark after the flight was cancelled at the 11th hour. Air Malta and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi issued separate statements announcing they were stepping in and sending a relief flight to bring back the stranded passengers.
The stranded football nursery.Mr Mallia, an Air Malta flight operations official, was suspended “pending investigation”. The airline said it had been brought to its attention that he “could have been potentially involved in the case on a private basis”.
However, Air Malta sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, questioned Air Malta’s declaration, saying some company officials and other employees had known that Mr Mallia operated this side business and had turned a blind eye to it for several years.
“It was only when things went wrong with this particular flight that Air Malta turned its guns on the employee, possibly to save face for failing to act on this blatant conflict of interest for a long time,” the source said.
Besides its scheduled flights, Air Malta offers a charter flight service that includes “ad hoc charter opportunities”.
Times of Malta is informed that over the past few years, Air Malta has even traded with Mr Mallia directly whenever he asked for services from his employer in a private capacity.
Asked to say whether the company was aware of Mr Mallia’s dual role and whether it had done any trade with him, a company spokesman replied: “It is premature for the airline to comment at this stage when investigations are still ongoing. The airline has in place established internal procedures to deal with such situations and does not comment on internal investigations.”
Contacted last Monday, Mr Mallia told Times of Malta that his employer was fully aware he had been offering the flight brokering service. In fact, the outbound flight for the young footballers “had been booked through the national airline”.
Mr Mallia’s flight brokerage service operates under the name of ‘Flight Support Services’. According to the Registry of Companies, there is no such company officially registered on its books.
The employee is well known with the local football community for coordinating charter flights for tournaments and training camps abroad.
“He offers very competitive prices and very modern planes at almost half the price a charter would cost if booked with Air Malta,” a source in the football community said.
The young footballers ‘stuck’ in Denmark returned to Malta through another charter flight which was operated by Air Malta.
Dr Mizzi and Air Malta CEO Clifford Chetcuti turned up at the airport at 4am last Tuesday to welcome back the youngsters.