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‘I’m a fool in matters of airlines’ – Tonio Fenech
Some self-criticism from finance minister who said he wanted no Maltese 'fool' to run Air Malta.
30 June 2011, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
2 min read
“You have a perfect clip here, I am a fool when it comes to administering an airline (jiena cuc fejn tidhol tmexxija ta’ l-linja ta’ l-ajru),” finance minister Tonio Fenech told Reno Bugeja on PBS’s Dissett, when challenged about not wanting a “Maltese fool” (cuc Malti) running Air Malta.
Fenech has claimed he was misquoted when he was reported to have told the Air Malta Steering Committee that he was not interested in employing ‘some Maltese fool’ to the post of CEO after this was vacated by former Easyjet director Cor Vrieswijk.
Vrieswijk, appointed to the position in December 2010, was formerly EasyJet’s director of operations, who resigning after a summer of delayed flights and cancelled services at the budget airline.
Fenech said on PBS that there was no Maltese national with the necessary experience to steer Air Malta out of bankruptcy and to put a serious restructuring programme into force. “I want to be clear that I never was, and don’t expect myself to be an expert in running an airline,” Fenech said, adding that restructuring an airline was not the same as restructuring a factory.
“I am not prepared to appoint a Maltese CEO just for the sake of it,” he said, but pointed out he had given newly appointed CEO Peter Davies a brief to find a Maltese successor within the next three years.
When questioned about the sense of anger among Air Malta employees that government has appointed a foreign top management team which in total are to receive €1 million in salaries, Tonio Fenech said that Peter Davies is to be paid a taxable €450,000, while other senior managers have been given short contracts that range from three to six months. “Their job is to oversee the implementation of the restructuring programme,” the minister said.
Tonio Fenech also described Air Malta as a “failed” airline which needed urgent attention. But he said he was not aware that a proposal to put a fuel surcharge on airline tickets had been blocked.
Fenech warned that should the restructuring process fail, all the current 1,200 jobs would be at stake and not just the 511 earmarked redundancies. “I don’t want to sound threatening, but the facts are that banks do not want to lend Air Malta any more money, and the European Commission will not accept any further aid plans,” he said.
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HEQQ FUQ TLIETA TGHOQOD IL BORMA !!
GONZI--GATT U FENECH.
JIEN NAHSEB LI IT-TLIETA MA HUMIEX CWIEC MALTIN GHAX IT-TLIETA HADU IL- 500 EWRO FIL-GIMGHA.
IC-CWIEC MALTIN KELLHOM JIHDU 1.16.
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Yes ypou are a FOOL. We had some good Maltese CEO. Some worked without pay. Now that the company has among the best pilots and honest staff you want to send them to green pastures. For heavens sake, Do something more constructive. Earn your pay. You are our Representative.
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You are one of the biggest contradictions that this world has ever seen! You're the biggest fool to run a country occupying the role of Minister.
You're the smallest fool to run your personal finances,...at the expense of others behind their backs!
In a nut shell GET the F*** out and go shame yourself somewhere else. You Gatt and Gonzi have destroyed this island. I myself am ashamed to have voted for you. Pero cuc Malti minix u zball darba nghamlu!
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Ma nahsibx li CUC ghaliex il 500 Ewro hadthom :O)
Joseph MELI •
just eliminate the "of airlines'"tot he banner headline and you have a true and accurate reflection of this man's worth.
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Tonio Fenech you are not only a fool but you look like a fool, act like a fool, think like a fool, and you also the patron saint of all fools.
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@briffy: Ma nahsibx ta! Jekk tant tinteressak l-ekonomija ta' Lilliput hares naqra lejn id-dokument tal-Kunsill tal-UE ghall-Kummissjoni: Assessment of the 2011 national reform programme and stability programme for Malta...u tara fejn hu is-success ta' dan il-Ministru!
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@Citizen X3....I am interested in the performance of the economy during his tenure as a minister, not in his personal life. I leave that to sensational newspapers and other two-penny worth publications, targeted at a readership of a certain level of intelligence.
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Qed tipprova terfa gihek Dr Tonio Fenech TICCAJTA INTIEC CUC MALTI Mintiex tara kemm qed imorru tajjeb fil FINANZI ghax ID DEJN TAHTEK IT TRIPLA RUHU Issa kollu INUTLI li tipprova minghalik tingabar wara dak id diskors li kont ghet ghal hatra ta chairman ta Air Malta wara kollox ma HTARTX CHAIRMAN CUC MALTI IZDA CUC INGLIZ ikunu VERA CWIEC IL MALTIN JEKK JERGAW ITELLAK FIL PARLAMENT MALTI
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A fool is one who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding. Hon Fenech here said that he is a fool when it comes to administering an airline company. By implication he was a fool when he passed judgment on this same airline company, about which, he said, he knows absolutely nothing.
Are taxpayers to assume foolery on Hon Fenech's part when he absuively described Air Malta as a “failed” airline and decided what kind of managerial cure was best fitted for this "failed" company?
Taking Min Fenech's own criteria of what makes a fool a fool, why should he fail to pass as a foolish minister of finance, considering the foolish effects on the national economy his performance as a minister of finance is having?
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@briffy@maltanet
I see that briffy is still living in fairy land. Briffy, watch the Truman Show. Its very entertaining. Tonio is a person without a blemish. He travels couch on ticket purchased from his own money, likes a bit of DIY at home. Does have canvassors collecting envelops with cash for him. The perfect man for a perfectly run Utopia - with at one one very satisfied and appreciative citizen.
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[email protected]
There is no such thing as fairness or giving credit where is due. Each blogger here has his own agenda and most of the time its all political. Any Finance Minister would probably not know the ins and outs of an Airline and has to rely on experts which we seem to be lacking on this tiny rock of ours. The fact of the matter is that the Airline should not have come to the edge of the precipice before action was seen to be taken. And the only conclusion one could arrive at is that the Government was caught napping. On the other it is very easy to be critical when one is sitting comfortably on a spectator's bench.One thing for sure is that the restructuring of Air Malta must be carried out in a serious manner and by professionals.
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One doesn't expect every Finance Minister to be an expert on airlines. That is why there are experts in every field; an expert is somebody who knows more about less. That is why all ministers appoint experts and are advised by experts in various fields. Ministers finally have to decide whether to accept or reject experts' advice. Minister Fenech has done a good job; reining in the budget deficit from 4.8% to 3.7% of GDP is one feather in his cap. We've had an increase in the minimum wage to Eur8 000, a rise in pensions: the average wage has gone up to over Eur15 000; we've had tax cuts for three years running, the raising of the income tax threshold to almost Eur10 000, no increase in VAT. Other countries have had pay cuts (Greece, Spain, Portugal), a rise in VAT (UK), and sharp rises in umployment It was no easy time for Minister Fenech - the global recession was the worst since 1929. Malta is an open economy, yet we were not hit badly and we can say that Malta has weathered the storm. If one compares the performance of other EU countries with ours, we can safely say that Malta has done relatively well. We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU., our GDP per capita has gone up from 75% of the EU average in 2004 to 83% and the quality of life has never been any better. One must see the whole picture; pointing out increases in utilty rates - one fifth of Maltese households get discount vouchers; or highlighting increases in fuel, or the meagre COLA this year distorts the picture The performance in the economy is not a matter of chance, things don't just happen; the administration must claim some credit for this. And anyone with a sense of fairness must give credit where credit is due
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Thanks for admitting that you`re an idiot, (bil malti cuc) but we had worked that out on ourselves without your honourable help. God knows how many times we are going to hear this clip come election time, as someone who have always voted PN I am ashamed of having representatives like yourself and the other members of your motley herd.
Mark Fenech •
Naħseb li hemm aktar materji fejn inti ċuċ, l-Enemalta; WSC u l-ARMS tista tgħoddom ukoll, biex inkun prudenti u nsemmi ftit.
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U iktar naghti tort lil min poggieh ministru lil dan it-trubetta !
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and in matters of airlines ONLY? dear tonio.....hold your breath.................!
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Quote:“You have a perfect clip here, I am a fool when it comes to administering an airline"
Unquote: And the way things are going seems that he is also a 'cuc' when it comes to the running, as a minister, of the WHOLE country.
And we thought that we had a financial guru running our finances! But then, all Maltese, as he, are cwiec.
Luke Camilleri •
WE KNOW AND ARE QUITE AWARE THAT fool in matters of airlines’, AND ALSO BALANCING THE BOOKS AT THE END OF THEYEAR WITH RECORD DEFICITS!
........ ... but you are certainly no fool when it comes to suplementing your salary package, no fool in paying NI for your maid and certainly no fool in getting free rides in private jets to watch your facourite teams or doing up your home, of getting your Sectarery to get funds for your election campaigne.......
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Sur Ministru (ċuwċ ta’l-Air Malta)
Il-poplu Malti u Ghawdxi, mhux se jdum ma’ jgħijdilkom min hu ċuwċ, kemm lilek u kif ukoll lill shabek, u anki ta’ xhiex.
Tkun kemm int ċuwċ, xorta trid terfa u ġorr ir-risponsabilta ta xhiex tkun inkarigat,kemm jekk tkun Malti jew baranni
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Int ĊUĊ jew qed taghmila tac-ĊUĊ biex ma thallas Dwana Hon?
Hadt €500 + ghaliex kont ĊUĊ Hon Tonio Fenech? Shabkom it-Taljani ha innehhu il-paga doppja u inthom?
Lil -haddiem tajtuh €1.16 ghaliex kont ĊUĊ jew ghaliex bzajt li ma jifdalx ghalik?
Ghada ser jghola il-petrol, diesil, gas, dawl u il-hajja n-generali wara li rahas iz-zejt?
Mhux ta b'xejn rajt il-Modonna tibki! Indunat fejn sejrin twasslu lil Malta int u shabek.
Jew indunat li l-kuxjenza taghkom tuzawa biss fejn jaqblilkom ?
Jekk Alla irid ma dumx ma tasal dik il-Gurnata li naghmlu il-kontijiet maghkom. Jekk il-poplu veru fetah mohhu hadt minnkom ma ghandu jerga ikun hemm.
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Sur Fenech - ma tahsibx li dardart lil Malta tghid ic-cucati. Possibli l-parrinu tieghek Dr Gonzi ghadu ma jdunax bil-hsara kbira li qed taghmel lill-Malta u lill-partit. Hemm ghalfejn tghidilina int li int cuc mill-kbar?!
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Ministru Fenech......L-anqas xaghara f`gismek ma irrid inkun, l-anqas jekk tirdoppjali dawk il 500 ewro fil gimgha. Ghalija, sabuk beccun u bellawlek kanna kbira jisimha AirMalta . Int ta pruzuntus li int, flok sibt l-ahjar nies Maltin (ghanke b`tendenzi laburisti ) sabiex jghejnuk, ghax bhal ma ghedt int stess ma tifhimx, bellawlek nies ghax ghandhom ghalnejhom blu. Il bqija daqshekk jifhmu. Tghejd mhux ser inhallat lil xi hadd mas Sur Berti Mizzi, jew is Sur Louis Grech. Dawn tnejn min nies l-ewwel ma kienu jghamlu,kienu jinzlu u jitkellmu mal haddiema, u minnhom kienu jitghallmu u jisimaw il problemi. Li kien hemm wara, kienu imexxu mill l-ufficju, u mill ufficju xi " R.J`s " tista tibla.
Helenio Galea •
Now let's call a spade a spade. Appointing someone with vast experience in restructuring airlines WAS necessary. Plus when it comes to taking such tough decisions no Maltese would have survived the onslaught if he / she proposed the tough measures that are being put in motion. Whether the paths chosen were the correct ones or not has yet to be seen but let's be honest, tough measures were necessary. One example is in all the recent years no ex Maltese CEO / Chairman had the temerity to say that all the freebies / special conditions / bad practices etc. had to go, even as the Airline was sliding into the red. A Maltese CEO simply had too many strings attached - Unions, political demands, business friends. A foreign CEO was needed to do the dirthy work and take off. Sometimes this is necessary in such a small country where we all know each other and don't like hurting others (either because we're nice and also out of fear of retribution).
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Sur fenech meta lhaqt kelli stima lejk izda dawn l-affarijiet li qed tidhol fihom wahda aqwa minn l-ohra qed jgelghuni nahseb mod iehor fuqhek .
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Tonio - seriously, stop digging your hole.
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Nahseb li il quote riedet tigi "(jiena cuc mhux biss fejn tidhol tmexxija ta’ l-linja ta’ l-ajru)"
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Airlines only?
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He doesn't expect himself to be an expert in running an airline...
But to run the ministry of finance for the entire country.
This time round he does not only put his foot in his mouth but rather his backside.
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Nistaqsi lil ministru int fl'Air Malta biss cuc?
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“You have a perfect clip here, I am a fool when it comes to administering an airline (jiena cuc fejn tidhol tmexxija ta’ l-linja ta’ l-ajru),” finance minister Tonio Fenech told Reno Bugeja on PBS’s Dissett, when challenged about not wanting a “Maltese fool” (cuc Malti) running Air Malta.
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Self praise is no recommendation.
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Why did he clear up the "misquote" after so long, does Tonio think taht all of Mata is cuc.
Get your act together and stop making a fool of yourself.
Igor P. Shuvalov •
Mr Cuc.... meta ghama jmexxi l-ghama, it-tnejn jaqghu fil-hofra! Forsi ghalhekk ma riedx 'cuc' malti jmexxi l-Airmalta, ghax kont tispicca li taghzel xi 'cuc' u tkun zewg icwiec!!!!!
