Air Malta denies eyewitness claims that flight got delayed for CEO’s wife

An Air Malta flight was delayed for 48 minutes to allow the wife of airline chief executive Peter Davies board the flight from London-Gatwick to Malta, last Friday 24 May.

A passenger who spoke to MaltaToday said he recognised Sue Davies, the wife of the €500,000-a-year chief executive who was entrusted with the turnaround of the national airline back in March 2011.

But in a statement issued at 8:19pm Friday, the company said Davies was a passenger on the flight in accordance with Air Malta's industry standard staff travel policy.

"Incorrect information has been leaked to the media with the malicious intent of implicating Mrs Susan Davies, wife of the CEO, Mr Peter Davies, as the cause of this delay," Air Malta said.

"She reported for the flight one and a half hours prior to the scheduled departure time - well ahead of the required time. At no time was she handled any differently to other staff passengers and neither did she cause the aircraft to be delayed by her own actions or the actions of those acting on her, or the CEO's, behalf.

"A misunderstanding by Air Malta's new ground handling agent in London Gatwick Airport in processing overbooked passengers on that day's flight was the causal factor for the first twenty minutes of the delay. Once all passengers were on board the aircraft and ready to depart there was a further twenty-eight minute delay due to air traffic congestion at Gatwick airport and London airspace. Such air traffic delays are common at busy international airports," the company said.

The eyewitness claimed that although KM117 was expected to depart from London Gatwick Airport at 11:55am, the flight was delayed for 48 minutes so that Sue Davies, who runs the couple's Mill End Hotel in Devon, could catch the flight to Malta. A company source also confirmed the witness's claims, saying that Davies had asked Air Malta's area manager at Gatwick to allow his wife to board the plane if there was availability.

The passenger who spoke to MaltaToday said he saw Ms Davies seated in seat 3B, where an empty seat separates club class passengers from the economy class, which at the time was full.

"Air Malta appreciates that its customers expect to depart and arrive on time. The airline takes on-time-performance very seriously and its employees do all they can to ensure that the operations runs to schedule.

"All aircraft operations are tracked and recorded electronically and all delays are subject to scrutiny of Air Malta. Remedial or disciplinary action is taken wherever appropriate and relevant," the company said.

"Air Malta is satisfied from all documentary evidence available that Mrs Davies, or anyone acting on her behalf or in her interest, did not cause flight KM 117 to be delayed in any way whatsoever."

Reports of company potentates and government ministers asking the airline to delay a flight so that they catch the plane, are not new.

Peter Davies came to an embattled Air Malta with a brief to turn around the airline into a profit-making company. But his appointment found resistance amongst pilots who questioned his initial decisions.

Davies has however presided over a fresh rebrand of the airline, and the company's losses in the year ended March 2013 were €25 million, compared to a €55 million projected operating loss in the adjusted budget of two years ago.

Davies's mission is to bring profitability to Air Malta by 2016, which is also accompanied by a massive downsizing of 600 employees, two less aircraft, new work practices, renegotiated third-party contracts, as well as the loss of some profitable routes as compensatory measures. The company has received some €230 million in state aid, under European Commission rules.