Unions representing Air Malta employees are insisting on holding direct talks with the government and want written guarantees on their members’ future, Times of Malta is informed.

The reassurances are being sought after the announcement two weeks ago that the government has teamed up with Ryanair to create a new airline, Malta Air.

Employees from various sections of the company, ranging from administration to pilots, are exerting pressure on their unions to ‘force’ the government to give them assurances that Air Malta will not eventually fold.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Tourism Minster Konrad Mizzi have said Air Malta will not be impacted through this deal as the airline will be investing in a different direction from the low-cost airline.

However, the verbal assurances did not go down well with those on Air Malta’s payroll.

Despite the assurances, employees want to get guarantees in writing that their future is still safeguarded

“Basically, employees are very concerned about their future following the announcement on Malta Air. Despite the assurances, employees want to get guarantees in writing that their future is still safeguarded in the eventuality that Air Malta flounders,” said a senior official of one of the airline’s main unions.

Another senior union official said: “The writing is on the wall. Air Malta is being wrongly managed and it’s a crisis every day. Although the government will never admit that Air Malta is on a downhill slide, the latest deal with Ryanair will surely mean another blow, and this time it may be fatal.”

So far, the government has not officially met the airline’s trade unions though Air Malta’s chairman, Charles Mangion, and managers have met union members to try to quell employees’ concerns.

Still, the unions are not satisfied, especially after the chairman admitted during meetings that he was not involved in the Ryanair deal and he got to know about it just 24 hours before the government signed the agreement.

“The government accepted that Ryanair starts using the name of Air Malta inversed – Malta Air – for its new airline, uses the same logo and livery and also sells our flights on its website,” a member of Air Malta’s management said.

“All this will undoubtedly impact our business no matter what the powers that be may say,” he said.

Times of Malta is informed that a number of unions have already made official requests for talks with the government and industrial action is not being ruled out.

Meanwhile, sources said that while Air Malta increased its schedule by some 30% this summer, it failed to increase personnel and is experiencing a shortfall of pilots and cabin crew to operate the new schedule.

A delay in the arrival of two new planes, Airbus NEO, which were to join the fleet this month, is also forcing Air Malta to wet-lease two aircraft, adding to the already stretched operating costs of the airline.

So far, the government has kept the agreement signed with Ryanair under wraps, including details of whether it has agreed to give the low-cost airline more subsidies for additional routes, the facilities it is making available to the new airline and whether there are any guarantees that Ryanair will not compete directly with Air Malta on the same flight destinations.

Since its entrance into the Maltese market, Ryanair has gone from strength to strength, becoming the island’s main carrier.