The deadline for talks between Air Malta and its pilots has been extended by a week and intensive talks will continue in a bid to find an agreement to avoid redundancies.

The union representing cabin crew was also granted an extension and the new deadline for talks with both unions is now May 14.

The extension was granted after the airline revised the number of pilots and cabin crew it wanted to retain.

As a result of its post COVID-19 business plan, which extends till the end of summer of 2023, it now requires more staff than had originally been projected. It is also planning to operate up to five aircraft by the summer of 2021 instead of just two.

The airline now requires 62 pilots, up from the original 26 under its previous projections, and 125 cabin crew, up from the 49 it had initially planned to keep.

'Closer to agreement'

The pilots’ request for an extension was rejected by the airline but this was granted by the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations.

Sources said that technically the time window should have restarted but that would have prolonged the matter longer than any party wanted.

The sources said the union representing cabin crew is closer to an agreement with the airline’s management than the pilots’ union, although the sticking point for both unions remains the airline’s request to revise both collective agreements. One of the main issues is the requested changes to the way disputes with the airline are settled.

The unions are in dispute with the airline after it gave notice last month of plans to sack most of its pilots and cabin crew unless they agreed to a monthly pay of €1,200 until normal operations are resumed.

The request was made as flight operations ground to a halt when travel to and from Malta was banned by the health authorities.