Air Malta | 'I would have preferred a more agressive reform' – PM Lawrence Gonzi

Dear PM if it wasn't for all the high end Managers who have no clue how to run an airline and friends of friends getting moved around to suit their political beliefs then the carrier might have had a chance, even of late you appoint a guy who know's jack about an airline. KM needs to survive this, and if it does it would have nothing to do with you or your pathetic party.

@citizen X It is very simple, because the goverment gives subsidy to the routes operated by Ryan air just to keep them flying. Take for example the Birmingham route... Airmalta has been flying their for a considerable number of years, but now comes ryanair, so what does airmalta do ....decides to pull out of that route, could be that they fear competition, or they are not up to competition, or else it is simply a strategic decision by the goverment that does not want to create problems for Ryanair. This in the sense that obvioulsy now he has to start forking out subsidies to Ryan air and if airmalta had to continue this operation they would expect the same treatment...This would result very coslty for the goverment so the only scapegoat remains airmalta. thus airmalta pulls out quitley. This is simply a game which the goverment is trying to play with the tourism industry but alas something went terribly wrong..

Can someone explain to me why a Ryan flights booked from Malta costs more than an Airmalta flight ? Please do explain the legality of discriminating by nationality and country with the EU while you are at it. The number of Ryan Air flights coming to Malta is significantly higher than the Airmalta flights - this is obvious and easily verified by anyone. As for AirMalta - well here is another example of a company having its strings pulled by government, being used by government to employ canvassers and exchange jobs for votes and passing lucrative contracts for PN front companies, installing con-artists in managerial posts and generally being used as PN's bitch. Its not alone, BOV and Enemalta also come to mind in this category. And all of them have problems. Ryan air is nothing more than a reality check. You can screw around for only so long before dear Gonzi. Employees, Share Holders and Citizens - wake up and see what is happening around you in this country.

This is one of the most hilarious things that the PM has come about with in this last week. So does this mean that he is not happy with what his minister and Chairmen have achieved.... Then simply sack them cause it is the emplyees at Airmalta that are going to suffer. And by the way he is right in what he said. Some examples include ... When the company wasre already signing agreements aimed to the sole purpose of helping the company, Someone just prior to the elections managed to squeeze into the company about 140 new loaders... I think most of them come from one particluar geographical area??. The "million dollar" agreement signed with the pilots, not that i am against it, but and a very big but, when the ship is sinking i do not think that it is very sensible to open more port holes. Why was it accepted from the goverment side that whilst people were being given golden handshakes ( and very golden ) to leave the company simply to put the payroll down , it was deemed fit to engage others with even a higher salary then the ones before them?? Also , does it make financial sense privitising a unit within the company and keeping all of its employees on your payroll?? thus doubling the expenses which you incur, cause now you have to pay the contarctor to do your work plus the wages of your employees. Furthemore why did no one blink an eye when contracts were being lost and nothing whatsoever was done...? Does it make sense that today with all these financial problems higher executives within this company are still being given performance bonuses?? And the story continues........

@Freddy Who is Michael Ryan? You are probably referring to Michael O'Leary aka MOL, Ryanair's CEO. How does he run his airline? By hurling insults to his counterparts and business partners. Even his own customers. By lying about everything and inflating numbers. By introducing new charges practically every other month. By disregarding safety rules. By not carrying sufficient fuel to save the day when the shit hits the fan. By operating filthy and uncomfortably planes. By falsely advertising low fares then charging you for everything except the air you breathe (not yet). Ryanair has seen it's better days. Something will eventually have to give.

iit might be good to point out to the Hon PM that there was no reform going on in the last three years( remember in was the run in to the elections when everything went back to normal God forbid that any bad news came before we vote). His government started with the so called reform after the election of 2003. The results have been losses in the core operation straight from 1997 till today . I guess they need more time.

He should give Michael Ryan a call, he might have one or two suggestions on how to run am airline.

[Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that, if it were up to him, the on-going Air Malta reform would have been “far more aggressive during these last three years.”] Dear Prime Minister, you are the PM, you have a majority in the House, you know that NONE of your MPs will vote against your government, you know that 50% of the voters would STILL vote for your party no matter what, you know you have one or more unions in your back pocket, so WHAT STOPPED YOU from doing it?? Or is it only when you vote FOR a big electricity rate increase that you do it BIL QALB?? Or when you spend over 80,000,000 euros for YOUR LEGACY, that you find the cojones to do something?? You, like Obama, blame everybody and everything, BUT YOURSELF.