Updated 8.30pm with more flight delays, MHRA statement

Air Malta is struggling to find pilots to fly its routes on Monday as around four of them called in sick and others are refusing to fill the shortage, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said on Monday.

He said the pilots appear to be protesting against new working conditions that the government is offering them as part of the airline’s restructuring.

Speaking to Times of Malta outside parliament, Caruana said that around three to four pilots called in sick on Monday and the airline is failing to find replacements to deal with the shortage.

“The company called around 25 pilots but none of them answered the phone, except two, who said they will not work because they fear repercussions,” he said. 

“I understand all of this is linked to discussions on the pilots’ new working conditions and I hope we don’t take on this attitude from now on.” 

Caruana said that despite not registering an official industrial dispute, the Airline Pilots Association ordered its members to work to rule from Sunday following a meeting that was held on Friday.

Caruana also told parliament that Monday afternoon’s flight from Malta to Brussels has been delayed by more than an hour and a half because of a pilot shortage, and it is still unclear whether it will actually take off.

And another flight from Malta to London Heathrow was meant to take off at 5pm but has also been delayed. 

Late on Monday, Air Malta said in a statement two flights - from and to Lyon were delayed "due to operational circumstances beyond the airline’s control".

It said Monday's KM454 will depart Malta at 00.30am on Tuesday, while KM455 will depart Lyon at 3.25am.

Caruana would not say what conditions the government is offering the pilots but insisted that the package being offered is at par with their counterparts working with other airlines.

“We spoke with them about how certain things have to be replaced with new conditions,” he said.

“They are conditions that other pilots work by in the market and they are conditions that the national airline should offer from now on. I don’t expect such negotiations to gather unanimous support on the first try, but we’re getting there and it’s not fair for people to use others in this way to get their way, because ultimately it only continues to harm the company.”

He said the unofficial directives are not a wise move, especially at such a delicate time when the company is waiting for the crucial outcome of negotiations with the EU Commission.

“We should have learned a lot from the past. All that I am doing for Air Malta is to safeguard the interests of the company, the workers and the country,” he said.

The government is currently in the final negotiations with the EU Commission in an attempt to secure millions in state aid for the ailing national airline. 

Although Caruana insists he will only speak on the outcome of the talks once they are concluded, Air Malta’s executive chairman told Times of Malta that a new national airline will replace Air Malta by the end of the year. 

The new airline will inevitably come with new financial packages and working conditions for pilots, cabin crew and ground handling staff.

Fielding parliamentary questions shortly afterward, Caruana criticised the pilots association ALPA, telling MPs that this is “an irresponsible attitude - the attitude that brought the company where it is now”.

'MHRA appeals for reconciliation between ALPA, government'

In a statement late on Monday, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) urged for reconciliation between ALPA and the government. 

MHRA urged the pilots association to shoulder responsibility "before causing any further disruptions that will directly hurt people of goodwill who have been waiting for this moment for their business to finally pick up".  

It said the sector was only now recovering from the blow dealt by the pandemic.

Air Malta, it said, was key to the tourism industry and the economic wellbeing of the country, and the government was "already doing a lot" to ensure the national airline remained afloat.

"This does not give the right to anyone who disagrees with how this needs to be done by causing further damage to the wider economy and to the same people who ultimately are paying taxes for Air Malta to keep going."

It said it was willing to assist in bridging any difference between the government and ALPA with the aim of reaching an agreement.

"Any other avenue will lead nowhere but to a disaster. Let’s keep the well-being of the national airlines as the priority for the well-being of our country."