Two senior Air Malta positions are to be filled by March, Air Malta CEO Phillip Micallef told The Malta Independent.

The airline is set to fill the chief commercial officer (CCO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) positions, he said. "While there is no definitive date for these two roles to be filled, we are aiming for March," Mr Micallefadded.

Mr Micallef was unable to release the names at this time, however said that the person set to take up the CFO position has already signed the contract, and the CCO has given a verbal acknowledgement, however, he does not want to sign the contract before his notice period is confirmed.

"Both these individuals are not Maltese, however have over 25 years of experience in the airline industry and both have a very good track record".

The person set to become CFO has experience in financial management of airlines including fleet renewal projects, hedging and revenue management.

The CFO's job is to handle the financial activities of the airline. "Basically this person's job would be to ensure that our decisions make sense financially. The best financial managers around come from within the business their job is related to, and in this regard this person has worked in the airline business for quite a while".

The person set to take up the position of CCO has expertise in route development and revenue management. "Hopefully these two people will be able to compliment the current Maltese team and bring international experience into the mix in order to bring the airline back on track as quickly as possible".

The CCO's job is to oversee the commercial activity of Air Malta, including routes, ticket pricing etc. 

The Air Malta CEO explained that Maltese deputies for these roles have already been hired, and these two international persons would need to train their deputies in case they ever need to take over.

Air Malta has been struggling to reach its re-structuring targets, however the recruitment of two experienced internationals will hopefully be able to turn the situation.