Air Malta CEO’s wife bumped into club class when flight was overbooked

Air Malta employees and an eyewitness, who spoke to MaltaToday on condition of anonymity, have contradicted the airline's denial that the 48-minute delay of a flight to Malta from London Gatwick was due to the lateness to board of chief executive Peter Davies's wife.

Airline staff who spoke to this newspaper claimed the reason Air Malta flight KM117 - scheduled to leave London Gatwick on Friday, 24 May at 11:55am - was delayed because personnel from the CEO's office in Malta were demanding that Sue Davies be given a club-class seat.

As the wife of the €500,000-a-year chief executive, Mrs Davies flies in accordance with Air Malta's industry standard staff travel policy.

But both company and government sources confirmed to this newspaper that persons with staff tickets do not board the plane if the flight happens to be overbooked - as KM117 was on 24 May.

This version of events seems to corroborate the claim by an eyewitness, who told MaltaToday earlier this week that Sue Davies was seen taking a middle seat - 3B to be precise - in club class, when it is customary for club-class passengers to have their middle seat left free as a perk for their high-priced ticket.

While Air Malta claims that Davies reported for the flight 90 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, a company source said check-in closed 15 minutes before departure, not the normal 30 to 45 minutes.

"The call to have Mrs Davies take the middle seat on club class was done from the CEO's office, four times," the Air Malta source said. "Since the alternative was that she misses the flight, given that it was overbooked, they wanted to have her seated on the jump seat next to the pilot. But we couldn't allow that, so Mrs Davies was upgraded."

For its part, on Friday evening Air Malta sensed that the press was onto the story and claimed in a statement that incorrect information had been leaked "with the malicious intent of implicating Mrs Susan Davies as the cause of this delay."

Air Malta claims that it was a misunderstanding by the airline's new ground handling agent at London Gatwick in processing overbooked passengers on that day's flight which first delayed it by 20 minutes. Another 28-minute delay resulted from air traffic congestion at Gatwick and in London airspace.

The airline insisted that Davies was not handled "any differently to other staff passengers," but the airline did suggest that delays to the flight were not due to "the actions of those acting on her, or the CEO's, behalf" - giving credence to claims that flight staff was called four times from the CEO's office to have Mrs Davies board.

On Friday, MaltaToday reported claims by an eyewitness that KM117 was delayed 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 that staff from Peter Davies' office 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 Mrs Davies seated in seat 3B, a seat which would usually remain empty to separate club-class passengers from economy class (which was full).

In a statement, Air Malta said that it took on-time performance very seriously and that all delays are subject to its scrutiny. "Remedial or disciplinary action is taken wherever appropriate and relevant. 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."

Peter Davies came to an embattled Air Malta in 2011 with a brief to turn 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 will be accompanied by a massive downsizing of 600 employees, two fewer aircraft, new work practices, renegotiated third-party contracts and the loss of some profitable routes. The company has received some €230 million in state aid under European Commission rules.