Updated | Pilots accuse Air Malta of twisting facts

Updated with Air Malta comments

Pilots' union ALPA have accused the national airline of "spreading myths and lies" on Air Malta pilots who called in sick on Tuesday, grounding flights and delaying others and costing the airline an alleged €500,000 in denied boarding compensation.

The union said that it was informed that 16 crew members were sick, four of whom are on extended sick leave, contrary to initial claims from the airline that over 20 pilots - or 40% of the available pilot complement for the day - had called in sick.

"Presently pilot complement in Air Malta is 117, so Air Malta is inferring 46 pilots were sick. Now Air Malta is hiding behind 'an internal human resources matter'," ALPA said.

"Neither CEO Peter Davies nor Chief Officer Flight Operations Capt. Mark Micallef Eynaud asked for ALPA's help," the union said.

In a reaction, the airline said that it had confirmed on Wednesday that 17 pilots were sick, 12 of whom reported sick between 2pm on the 16 September and 9am on 17 September (yesterday). "The airline has never referred to 46 pilots being sick. The 40% of available pilot complement clearly refers to the daily requirements to operate the daily schedule. What is indisputable is that over 2,000 passengers were inconvenienced."
 
Air Malta said it would not be drawn into discussions relating to doctor's reports on sick pilots, saying this was an internal human resources matter. "Since there was no industrial dispute recorded, what help was there to offer? The airline expects the ALPA executive committee to encourage fit members of staff to work so that the airline can serve its customers."

The union also accused the airline of "twisting facts", after MaltaToday revealed that the airline pays each of its 117 pilots the sum of €50 when it has to cancel a leave day.

"This is totally misleading and incorrect. One questions the credibility of CEO Peter Davies, who repeatedly conveys wrong information to the media. One should not forget that when Davies issued a press release stating that Air Malta will be making a €15 million operational loss [this] was corrected by Minister Karmenu Vella to €25 million," the union said.

Tens of thousands of euros are paid by Air Malta to its pilots during peak months when the airline has to reduce just one day of leave to keep more pilots on its busy schedule and workload, the company had told MaltaToday.

According to the pilots' collective agreement, Air Malta ends up paying €750 to each of its pilots if has to strike off one day of leave if it doesn't have enough pilots to fly its planes during busy months. The airline says that it has paid up to €82,000 in one peak month alone, due to this liability.