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Air Malta ‘disappointed’ at MP’s comments on chief executive
Airline: Robert Arrigo ignores turnaround achievements registered by the airline in its operational results.
10 April 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
2 min read
Peter Davies - 350,000 on a four-day week, but still managing Air Malta turnaround, says airline.
A spokesperson for the national airline expressed "disappointment" at comments by Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo, who without mentioning Peter Davies took to task the Air Malta chief executive for working on a four-day week basis.
"It is regretful that the Honourable MP stated that Air Malta's leadership is poor and that Malta's success in achieving record tourist numbers is due only to the Malta Tourism Authority," Air Malta said.
"Clearly Mr Arrigo is either unaware of the facts or chooses, for his own reasons, to ignore the turnaround achievements registered by the airline in its operational results," the airline said.
Arrigo is both a hotelier and operator of a major incoming tourist business.
In the financial year to 31 March 2013, Air Malta carried a total of 1,736,976 passengers with a significant increase in seat factor occupancy and operational productivity.
"Only through continued operational improvements can the airline achieve profitability and survive, which is so essential for the success of Malta's tourism. Air Malta cannot be managed in the interest of one sector of stakeholders only, such as tour operators, in which sector the Honourable Mr Arrigo has interests in.
"Air Malta is and will continue to work in tandem with the MTA to continue to achieve record tourist arrivals."
Arrigo voiced strong opposition to the position held by Peter Davies, insisting that the national airline would have failed had it not been for the efforts of the Malta Tourism Authority.
"Air Malta is not proactive in creating jobs and if it hadn't been for the initiatives undertaken by the Malta Tourism Authority, the national airline would have never found its footing," he said. "With its arrogance and wrong work practices, Air Malta would have never survived without MTA."
Without referring to him by name, Arrigo criticised the working policy of Davies, who earns a salary package of €350,000 and an additional €150,000 performance bonus, while working on a four-day basis with the remaining three days spent abroad. "We don't want people working on a four day week or who don't answer their emails during the rest of the week," Arrigo said.
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The Maltese have Malta's and Air Malta's interest's at HEART more than you can ever have Mr. Davies!
Air Malta is our Baby and we love it more than you can ever hope to do!
Rita Pizzuto •
U Iva, 350,000 Ewro lil hemm (ta' RCC), u 200,000 lil hawn, lil Davies, x'fihom? Mhux mill-kaxxa ta' Malta? Ghan-nazzi li jaghtu l- flus lil min iridu mhu xejn, l- aqwa li mhux mill-kaxxa vojt a tal-Partit taghhom.
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Despite such results, such paid figures are still out of this world.
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Maybe mr arrigo should plainly ask mr davies to explain how he layed off in one single year 500 people with the VRS/ERS scheme and still managed to employ in the same year another 500 people in various sections of airmalta, like cabincrew,groundstaff,cargo section,engineering etc etc.Now that would be very interesting!
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In defense of Mr Davies, CEO of Air Malta criticizing that he only works only 4 days a week is very unfair and out of tune. True Mr Davies commutes to and from Malta to the UK but that does not mean in any way he is not putting in his hours. As a matter of fact, if one takes the hours he puts in at Air Malta it over shadows the four day week he puts in..
Secondly the reason Air Malta managed to get over the crises so far is no thanks to MTA. It is thanks to the almost €200,000,000 Million euros of the TAX PAYER's money that Tonio Fenech managed to pump into the National Airline. Another reason it is somewhat in a better shape is because Air Malta cut half their staff and somehow managed to settle the Pilot's contract mysteriously without any hitch after four years of negotiations. I have my suspicions how that was accomplished but that is another story. I seem to recall a certain incident at the Milan airport, something that had to do with a 35 minute flight delay because the pilot of a scheduled Air Malta flight Captain decided to delay the flight for 35 minutes to wait and accommodate another fellow employee and his family because they showed up late for the flight. In no way I am too fond of Air Malta's operations but not all the credit goes to MTA, far from it. Air Malta was a good airline until the Ex administration ignored the National Airline for the last ten years. Maybe MP Robert Arrigo forgot that it was under the PN that Air Malta lost ground and maybe he also forgot that it was Tonio Fenech that said that he will not hire a Maltese "Cuc" to be Air Malta's CEO. Maybe he is also forgetting that Air Malta always served as a hiring tool for politicians who doubled the help in pre elections and it was the EX PM that promised the Airline workers a secured job. If nothing else Mr Davies managed to take away the unjust perks, freebee travel for politicians and their families and that took a lot of guts. So give Mr Davies some credit Mr Arrigo, he is doing the best he can with what he got. Trying to make points at someone else's expense is a poor excuse.
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fejn kien is-Sur Arrigo meta Gonzi PN hatar lil dan is-Superman? ehh bilhaqq dan ma kienx cuc Malti hux ghax dak tista ssibu 7 ijiem fil gimgha
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robert arrigo understands more about tourism than 10 Peter Davies. it's a shame that government even gave a contract like this to the man. What does it tell those who are working on 300 euro a week for 40 hour week? Vera hbieb tal hbieb.
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It is reported that the national airline expressed disappointment at comments made by Nationalist MP Mr Robert Arrigo. One asks; has the spokesman for the national airline referred to the posts which followed Mr Arrigo's criticism? If not he is advised to do so.
