Tony Mifsud
Malta is this year celebrating 100 years of aviation history. In my 45 years of aviation and air cargo logistics I have come across colleagues who laid the blocks for the success of this industry.
I dedicate these reminiscences to past and present colleagues and friends who have given or are giving their share in this volatile and intriguing industry. I'm focussing on four colleagues who have passed away as a sign of respect to them and all other commercial aviation staff of the industry on this island.
The first person who comes to mind is Luis Bruno of Alitalia. Luis, who was appointed Sales manager of Alitalia in the late 1960s brought with him a baggage of experience following his time at Malta Airlines and Eyre Services. Luis was a calm person who rarely showed or transmitted any stress on us, his colleagues. Listening to classical music was one way he used to unwind. One day, he seemed anxious on receiving notice that he had to clear from customs four computers sent from Alitalia Rome to be used in our offices. However, these computers, needed for reservation purposes, were never released by customs as their importation was prohibited at the time. But Luis kept calm and nonchalantly, he smoked the next cigarette. On 1 October 1977, it was decided to bring the first DC10 on the Rome/Malta/Rome route due to strong passengers' demand. Luis was very proud with the job we did. This was the first commercial wide-body aircraft landing on the extended runway. Luis was not short of compliments after a job done well, making him an easy-going person to work with.
The next person I'd like to mention is Guido Sant. Guido started his career at Malta Airlines way back in the 1950s, joining Air Malta in 1974 where he worked in the interline, tariffs and sales division as manager. Guido, together with his team, put together and published air fares between Malta and other countries so as to comply with the IATA rules of that time. These had to be approved by the local authorities. If fares were not published, they were worked out manually and mentally for each passenger without any assistance from computers. IATA had created a tariff system based on point-to-point mileage and maximum permitted mileage from each airport to any other airport. Currencies were regulated by IATA at that time. It used to take 15 minutes to work out a complicated routing after which the ticket would be hand-written. Guido was strict and extremely conscientious in applying these rules. He was always in possession of tariff manuals whenever I met him at the office. He always abided by the ticketing rules and regulations as they were there to be observed to the letter. Guido was a very conscientious person.
Stephen Borg is the next colleague on my list. Stephen represented Air Malta in Zurich, Frankfurt and London. Stephen started his career in 1970 at Mifsud Brothers. We became colleagues when he joined SMS in 1971. One could not like Stephen! I always knew Stephen as a hard worker, reliable, trustful and charismatic. He had a passion for his job and possessed extensive knowledge of the industry. He was always on the go and ready to solve clients' problems. He was a loyal person. One day, Stephen told me that he had become a close friend with Manchester United defender, Gary Neville who used to promote Malta tourism at the beginning of this century. Stephen, however, still remained a Juve fan.
The next personality in this short tribute is Capt. Harold Harris who passed away recently. Harold was known for his jovial yet serious character by which he used to motivate people. He was a gentleman and earned respect from all quarters of the industry. His gentle way of tackling challenges was admired by everybody including members of competing airlines like me and his continuous respect towards everyone was duly noticed by all. Harold had a word of honour - a virtue which has become rare on the ground nowadays. Truly, he was an officer and a gentleman!
I hope that by shining a light on these colleagues, I have managed to instil a sense of respect and acknowledgement for the great efforts these people and others who were involved in commercial aviation; these were the people who had striven to put Malta on the map of aviation. People in commercial aviation have secured the success of aviation on this island for future generations including the engineers, technical officers and army officers who were the ones rewarded at the gala event held recently.