The biggest problem with Air Malta is that it is a "small fish in a shark tank", GWU Secretary for the Aviation and Maritime sectors Sandro Vella told The Malta Independent.

He was asked for his reaction to proposals put forward by the PN this week which, the party says, would save the airline. On Thursday, the Nationalist Party announced that it put forward proposals to recapitalise the airline through local investment and through the introduction of share options for airline employees.

Mr Vella explained that many of the ideas put forward by the PN regard the setup of the company, like shareholding, "which one has to handle, but it will not solve the problem."

"Yes there are good ideas, but we are in a competitive market in Europe. Where does Air Malta have an edge? Air Malta has an edge when talking about countries outside of Europe, like Libya, Egypt and Russia, but then unfortunately there are problems in these countries."

"Now you can ask me, would you go for a strategic partner? It's one of the options, and if the partner is outside of Europe it would be even better, as by offering a market aside from Europe we would not be putting all our eggs into one basket."

Looking at the aviation market from a wider perspective, he said that legacy airlines in Europe are struggling. "We then had the first wave of Middle Eastern airlines, like Etihad and Qatar airlines. The second wave impinging into the European market is coming from further east, like China and India. This is even causing concern to Emirates, Etihad etc. There is a place for small airlines, but one must be careful to make the right moves."

He does not believe a low cost model for Air Malta would work. "Forget it, you would need volume. Low cost airlines are already set in the market. Each year 10 low cost airlines pop up, and they don't survive by the end of the year. You don't even hear about them."

Turning to calls for local investment into the airline made by the PN, he said; "I'm all for local investment, as the funds remain in Malta, but the issue is that it is a very high-risk investment. As an example, to purchase a 737 aircraft one would need to wait six years. If you don't have a giant with you, who already has aircraft on order etc. you will have problems. As an example, you would need €1 billion to purchase eight aircraft."

While the best bet is to work with a bigger airline, Air Malta would need to be given some leeway to also work for the country, he said. "Malta needs a bridge."

As for the current low cost airlines operating in Malta like Ryanair, he said that they are good for the country, "but you can't rely on them. If they stop making a profit, they will leave."

Turning to recent criticism that the Union is not fighting enough for its airline employees, he said that at the moment "we cannot make a lot of demands. I don't think it would be wise to do that. What we are doing is defending the rights of our workers. We are also trying, if we can, to help the airline."

He said however, if there would be job cuts, then "they would need to sprinkle some sugar with the medicine." The minister previously said that there would likely be the introduction of a voluntary retirement scheme, and that any workers who would be cut from the airline would have a job elsewhere in the public sector. "There are employees who will find alternate employment in no-time, but when it comes to specialised workers... where will you send a pilot?"

Air Malta needs to change ownership model

MHRA President Tony Zahra was also asked for his views on the PN's proposals.

"Clearly Air Malta is of concern to all Maltese stakeholders whether they are management or members of Air Malta staff, whether they are operators in the tourism sector, whether they are exporters, whether they are travellers and therefore customers of Air Malta or simply citizens of Malta who were, and some are still, proud of  Malta's national airline."

"Regrettably over the last eight years or so there has been much rhetoric and playing of the blame game coming from the political class, and very little action on what needs to be done to get Air Malta to operate at a profit given the reality in the aviation industry that emerged with the freedom of the skies when we joined the EU. The MHRA has been on record for many years now saying that the ownership model must change if the airline is to stand a chance to operate at a profit.  MHRA has been insistent that majority ownership should be passed on to the private sector with government holding a small but strategic investment. Unless the company is run on strictly commercial lines  it will never be run at a  profitably."

"Air Malta has gone through circa €250 Million euros in the last seven years and putting in more money without changing the ownership model, and operating on a strictly commercial lines will mean Malta will throw good money after bad. Unless the political class accepts this fact of life and start working on a plan of implementation accordingly, we feel very concerned on the future of Malta's National airline."