Air Malta lauds ‘win-win’ salary deal, no details of salary package announced

Details of an unannounced, new salary package for Air Malta pilots were left up to the Times to leak today - perhaps only for the pure coincidence that Air Malta's chairman Louis Farrugia sits on the board of Allied Newspaper

Air Malta, which is undergoing a massive restructuring process, said a €4.5 million salary raise for its 130 pilots was a "win-win agreement" that would give the airline increased operational flexibility in managing costs.

Without divulging any details of the salary agreement, Air Malta confirmed the figures published earlier in the day.

"The collective agreement meets the requirements of the restructuring plan approved by the European Commission and is in-line with the financial constraints of the airline. Any changes to the collective agreement are the result of a give-and-take approach adopted by both parties and related to productivity and efficiency gains," the airline said in a statement.

Air Malta said the agreement was reached after "very difficult discussions" between both sides.

Pilots who led an unrelenting campaign of criticism against the Air Malta restructuring process, will get a €4.5 million raise as part of a collective agreement.

The unannounced collective agreement for 2012-2015 will see pilots get a raise of over 3% every year, cost-of-living allowance increase, for a total of €17,000 annually.

The revised scale system will see pilots and first officers' salaries capped at €90,800 for pilots and €58,200 for first officers. The capped salaries is hoped to produce a natural wastage of older and higher-earning pilots taking early retirement, and bring down the staff complement of 130 pilots.

They will also earn an extra €5,000 over the four-year period through an enhanced points system for when they are actually called in for duty, and a €4,500 one-time payment for having given up part of their salaries during earlier restructuring processes attempted by the airline.

On their part, pilots will contribute €100 every year towards their insurance costs incurred by the company, and give up either their car park space or chauffeured service.

While negotiating their collective agreement, ALPA pilots' union president Dominic Azzopardi claimed he was the victim of a character assassination by the national airline. Azzopardi had denied delaying an Air Malta flight when he boarded it late, on which he was flying as a passenger. He claimed the airline was trying to get back to him and ALPA for giving notice of an industrial dispute on Friday.

Air Malta posted a loss of €30 million this year, after having received the European Commission's green light for a restructuring plan in which the airline must become profitable after receiving €130 million in state aid. Recently, the Air Malta launched a €1.9 million rebranding of Air Malta.