Air Malta and cabin crew union sign agreement

Air Malta announced it had signed a restructuring agreement with the Union of Cabin Crew (UCC) to support the airline's restructuring.

The agreement, which includes improvements to rostering to increase crew utilisation, reduced staffing numbers, changes to the duties of cabin crew and voluntarily redundancy and early retirement schemes is the third agreement that Air Malta reached with the unions representing its employees and is another milestone in the process of restructuring of the airline.

Earlier last month similar agreements were signed with the Association of Airline Engineers and the General Workers Union.

The airline said the agreements are instrumental to the restructuring process and focus on new or improved work practices, revised duties and responsibilities, roster and shift changes, increased efficiencies and a reduction of staff amongst other initiatives.

"This is another important step in restructuring Air Malta. Both the airline and the UCC have invested a lot of time and effort to get a win-win deal in the interest of the company, staff and the airline's customers," Air Malta's CEO Peter Davies said.

"Changing expectations of our customers dictate that the levels of service and products on offer should be continuously changed. It is imperative to keep abreast of these changing realities. We intend to offer a new Air Malta in-flight experience and have already started working on a number of projects in this regard.

"This agreement was specifically targeted to increase the flexibility and productivity of our cabin crew and will pave the way for a new in-flight service onboard Air Malta flights. We are now in a better position to focus on the airline's customers and enhance our in-flight experience which augurs well for the future of our airline and the customers we serve."

The UCC secretary-general Richard Caruana said the agreement followed lengthy discussions between the union and airline. "It will be an agreement that will be of benefit to both the company and our members. Several changes are to be implemented in the coming future. This agreement will help in the restructuring plan and will be essential for the turnaround of the airline."