The Union of Cabin Crew said only discussions on a new collective agreement could lead it and Air Malta to achieve all the necessary aims for the benefit of everyone involved.

It was explaining its stand on the second rescue plan Air Malta presented last December, and which has now been shelved because the unions could not find sufficient common ground on the matter.

Giving several reasons for its decision to request a new collective agreement, the UCC said only such an agreement could harmonise definitions of terms and new legislation “as defined in the EU-OPS regulation contractually”. EU-OPS includes the technical requirements and administrative procedures for civil aviation.

The UCC said they had to have new concepts in rostering and deployment of cabin crew, there had to be new productive measures, and deployment of Malta-based cabin crew had to be maximised in local and overseas operations.

In this complex situation, the UCC said, only discussions on a new collective agreement could achieve these aims.