Air Malta and pilots reach agreement on collective agreement

In a sudden turn of events Air Malta and the pilots' association, ALPA said they have come to an agreement over a new collective agreement. However, the airline made no reference to the association's earlier calls for the resignation of Air Malta's CEO Peter Davies.

In a statement issued at 1am, Air Malta announced "after long but productive discussions Air Malta and ALPA concluded negotiations early this morning on a new 4-year collective agreement commencing 1 January 2012."

The statement came after the pilots' association commenced an industrial dispute on Wednesday and ordered pilots to work under the terms of their existing collective agreement after the airline stopped talks on a new one.

Pilots and Air Malta's management were at loggerheads over the restructuring of the national airline - with the pilots wanting an increase in their annual salaries, while pilots say they are right in demanding an increase after having frozen their salaries for three years in a bid to assist the airline restructuring.

A new collective agreement was two years overdue and ALPA said certain conditions in the expired agreement were "inadequate in today's circumstances".

The feud between Air Malta and its pilots reached a sour point with the pilots calling for the resignation of CEO Peter Davies after Air Malta yesterday accused ALPA of disrupting the restructuring process.

Following a flurry of strong-worded statements, Air Malta surprisingly said "both the CEO of Air Malta, Peter Davies and the President of ALPA, Dominic Azzopardi, commented favourably about the collective agreement and the restructuring phase which Air Malta is currently going through."

The airline said the agreement, which was negotiated within the same parameters as other agreements reached with the other Unions "meets the requirements of the restructuring plan and is in line with the financial cost constraints of the company."

It noted that the agreement covers new conditions and pay for the pilot workforce which will lead to greater productivity and efficiencies.

"Furthermore, both parties agreed that they will continue to work together towards a common objective of securing Air Malta's future for the benefit of our employees, customers and the country," Air Malta added.

The company explained that the Board of Air Malta and the pilots' association will now have to approve the agreement in the coming days.

Air Malta also failed to mention the investigations it initiated in Azzopardi's regard, following reports that he delayed a flight in July because he was late.

Azzopardi vehemently denied delaying an Air Malta flight and insisted that the airline is trying to get back to him and ALPA for giving notice of an industrial dispute on Friday.

He said that on Friday the association informed the Air Malta management and the industrial tribunal of an industrial dispute, which will came into force on Wednesday.

ALPA said while Air Malta's management was working to push it into taking industrial action, its members will continue to work according to their contractual obligations and will resist provocation by "certain persons in Air Malta's management" as far as possible and until such a time that safety becomes a significant issue.

As a result, Air Malta said that it may be affected by flight disruptions due to crew shortage.

"Air Malta is closely monitoring the situation and will advise its passengers of any changes in its flight operations as a result of this situation," Air Malta said.

In the statement issued this night, the airline did not make reference to the shortage of staff.