In a poll on The Malta Independent website, 51 percent of readers who voted believed that the biggest winners from the recent Air Malta deal are the pilots. 

In response to the poll question “Air Malta deal with pilots: who is the biggest winner?”, 22 percent of voters believed the government was the biggest winner. Those who believed that all three are the biggest winners: Pilots, government and airline was 20 percent with only 8 percent believing that the solely the airline was the biggest winner. 

Government plans for Air Malta include expansion in the Mediterranean with recent news that Air Malta has a launched a new service between Catania and Vienna earlier this month. It also introduced several new destinations late last year.

Deals with cabin crews, engineers and ground personnel have also been reached, introducing new work practices in exchange for higher pay, aimed at enabling the airline to grow without significant recruitment.