Air Malta announces new organisational structure, voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes

With the need to undergo fundamental reorganisation and transformation, many departments have been re-engineered and restructured.

The airline's Chief Executive, Peter Davies said that, "although there is the need to reduce employee numbers by over 500, the reorganisation has created over 100 new positions in the areas of Ground Operations, Commercial, Finance, Information Technology, Flight Operations and Engineering. These positions are now open for all staff to apply."

Davies added he expected that existing Air Malta employees would fill most of these new positions.  

"This is a major step in the restructuring of Air Malta. We have now announced the new job positions and since these are new posts a selection process will be undertaken," Davies said. "This has been thoroughly discussed and communicated to the unions in question throughout the consultation process. The process we will adopt provides a clear, transparent and efficient selection process that is driven by merit." 

In a reaction to the GWU's statement, Davies denied Air Malta's management was playing games or trying to evade the law in connection with redundancy: "We have no intention of  doing that. The restructuring process has required a thorough reorganisation that has resulted in new posts being created and others becoming redundant. The management is fully aware of its rights and obligations."

"We will be holding a series of staff information sessions next week where management will provide an update on the company's current performance, the challenges ahead and provide an update on the voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes," he added.  

Air Malta's new structure and main functions that make up the leadership team are Organisational Development, Commercial, Finance, Flight Operations, Engineering & Maintenance and Information Technology. A new feature is a Program Management Office, which will manage the multiple restructuring projects that form part of the transformation of the airline. It will also give the airline the ability to implement change successfully - which can give it a competitive advantage. 

To support the process the airline launched a portal on its intranet dedicated to its restructuring exercise containing the new vacant positions tied with new position descriptions and a frequently asked questions section.

Employees can now view and apply for new jobs within the airline until the end of December. In a staff circular sent to Air Malta employees, the airline also highlighted the options available, information about the selection process and the decision period timeframes.