Talks between Finance Minister Clyde Caruana and pilots dismissed by Air Malta have collapsed.

Sixty-nine pilots were dismissed by the national airline as flights were grounded by the COVID-19 crisis, with no agreement having been reached on a pay cut requested by the airline. Most of the pilots have since been employed directly by the government.

Caruana recalled when answering questions in parliament that he had offered to meet the pilots to discuss not only their re-engagement but also several other issues. Several meetings were held, and things appeared to be going well, but then at one point, the talk by the pilots became more legalistic and court-like. Furthermore, three-quarters of what was discussed at that final meeting ended up in a newspaper.

Caruana said he was disappointed because that was not the right spirit for the conduct of negotiations, more so when negotiations on state aid were also being conducted, with the EU. Since the talk had become legalistic and the other side appeared to want the issue resolved in court, rather than around a table, he had decided that that should be the case. No other meetings have been held since then and he expected the issue to be continued in court. 

Asked about the request by Malta for the EU to authorise state aid for the airline, 
Caruana said the process was taking a long time because the process adopted by the European Commission was laborious and exorbitant.

He explained that every flight on every day for more than a year during the COVID-19 crisis was being compared to the same day on the previous year in terms of passenger numbers, revenue and profit.