Air Malta has “repeatedly” refused proposals to reduce pilots’ pay by half amid the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid redundancies, pilot association ALPA said. 

“No adequate explanation has been provided to the association, as to the rejection of these proposals,” they said.

Disputes between management and pilots have been on-going following the refusal by pilots to accept the pay reduction to €1,200 a month, as guaranteed by the government’s aid scheme amid virus crisis that brought to industry to a stop.

ALPA claim their requests for further negotiations, of which there have been only three, have been refused by management.

108 pilots were given a 30 day notice ahead of redundancies in the case no found agreement was found within the company. One day ahead of the expiry of the notice, ALPA accused Air Malta of forcing a different form of discussions just days ahead before redundancies are to take effect.

They claim Air Malta management informed them that they require 62 pilots rather than 26 as originally envisioned in the redundancy terms, as well as four to five aircrafts as opposed to one to two as agreed around three weeks prior.

The association also demanded “proper restructuring” plan to ensure the airline’s ability to survive the crisis and called for cuts of a “undeniably very top heavy” management within the airline company.

The most prominent issue amid the talks is a letter of commitment signed under former Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi in 2018.

Under this agreement, Air Malta’s pilots are guaranteed alternative work in Malta with the same take-home pay if they are made redundant.

“The company mustn’t use this pandemic as an excuse to undermine collective agreements which are in force till the end of 2022,” the association said in light of this.

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