Air Malta strikes agreement with airline engineers

An agreement was reached Wednesday evening between the government, Air Malta and the Association of Airline Engineers (AAE).

In a tweet posted at 7.11pm, tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis announced the agreement, saying “Working collectively in d best interest of KM (Air Malta), its employees and tourism.

This agreement came in the wake of similar agreements reached with the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), with the airline’s General Workers Union members and – on Monday – with Air Malta cabin crew, where it was agreed that salaries for Air Malta’s cabin crew would be tied with more flexible working hours.

Agreement reached w/ Association of Airline Engineers (AAE) @AirMalta.Working collectively in d best interest of KM, its employees & tourism

— Zammit-Lewis Edward (@ZammitLewisEdw) August 24, 2016

Cabin crew union (UCC) president Noel Mercieca told MaltaToday that tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis has promised that workers’ take-home pay will not be reduced, but that their salaries will be adjusted according to their working hours, in line with the union’s demands.

This means that cabin crew who work longer hours can be expected to earn higher salaries than what they are currently earning.

None of Air Malta’s 250 or so cabin crew will be fired, but all of them will be offered a strictly voluntary retirement scheme. MaltaToday revealed on Sunday that the retirement scheme for pilots and cabin crew has been tagged at some €6 million. Those cabin crew who want to keep working under their current conditions will be offered a job at another government department.

“This is only the start of discussions and the real negotiations are yet to begin, but at least we have struck an agreement on the principles of the deal,” Mercieca said. “At least I now have my find at rest that I will not lose my job and that my salary will not be reduced.”

The UCC has also agreed to accept higher productivity targets imposed by Air Malta’s management, which Mercieca said amounted to minor tweaks in the current collective agreement.

However, a business plan signed between Air Malta and Alitalia remains elusive, with Mercieca saying that his requests to see a copy of it had been turned down.

“We were not told anything about the business plan during yesterday’s meeting, but I have been informed that it will be made public after the end of August.”

The government and the UCC struck a preliminary deal on Monday night, after the union had ordered work-to-rule directives. The government was represented by Zammit Lewis, while Air Malta chairperson Maria Micallef and President emeritus George Abela – appointed as negotiator for the airline’s talks with its staff – were also present for the meeting.

In a separate meeting on Monday, Zammit Lewis pledged that all Air Malta employees represented by the General Workers’ Union were guaranteed their jobs and take-home pay.

A GWU spokesperson confirmed with MaltaToday that the union’s proposals to the government include calls for an early retirement scheme, a voluntary retirement scheme, and access to public sector jobs for some of Air Malta’s current staff.

“Since Air Malta’s business plan has yet to be presented, it is difficult to predict the impact [of the deal] on the workers on various government salary scales whom we represent, and which government departments they will be transferred to if the need arises,” he said. “However, the government has pledged that all potentially transferred workers will be relocated to jobs on their current salary scale.”

They come in the footsteps of an agreement signed with the Airline Pilots’ Association (ALPA) last week, following length negotiations. When asked by MaltaToday, ALPA president Dominic Azzopardi refused to divulge any details of the deal, arguing that he doesn’t want to risk compromising his position.

“However, I can say that all pilots are happy with the deal. We have not received a single negative comment about it yet,” he said.

He also confirmed that ALPA weren’t given a copy of the Alitalia business plan, and that he had been informed that it could be published even later than the end of August.

The government signed a memorandum of understanding with Alitalia back in April, in a deal that will see the Italian airline acquire 49% of Air Malta’s shares. Alitalia is itself 49% owned by Abu Dhabi based airline Etihad Airways.

The deal is expected to see Air Malta benefit from a €400 million investment at Alitalia, as well as from its vast network and airport slots. Zammit Lewis has also said that the deal will allow the airline to cut its ticket prices.

However, the deal will also see the government absorb Air Malta’s full €66 million in debt and liabilities, as well as fork out some €6 million on a voluntary early retirement scheme for pilots and cabin crew.

Zammit Lewis has also been forced to deny reports that the partnership will see Air Malta relegated to the established routes operated by Alitalia or Etihad.