Whether our national carrier is seeking a strategic partner or is up for grabs, partially or as a whole, is not clear. During the past days various sections of the media reported, once again, that our national airline is flying through inclement weather.
This news item raised reactions from various constituted bodies, primarily from the MHRA, representing entrepreneurs involved in the tourism sector. To some extent, with great caution, trade unions also aired their concerns. Notwithstanding their legitimate right to be properly consulted, information remained very scarce, giving rise to more speculation. Uncertainty festers more insecurity and indecision creates added diffidence, but those responsible for the national carrier remained tight-lipped.
The tourism business community is left in the dark, while Air Malta employees and their dependants wonder about their future and continue to dwell in uncertainty. The causes of these uncertainties are a long list of unaddressed issues, which have accumulated over a long period of time.
However, these issues are negligible when compared to the direct competition which lowcost-airlines brought to the national carrier. Indeed, lowcost-airlines connected Malta to other cities around Europe and contributed to a large extent to Malta’s visibility and increased arrivals, supporting Malta’s tourism sector and other ancillary businesses. In this respect, low-cost-airlines have revolutionised the aviation industry. Unfortunately, our national carrier took this challenge lightly.
Passengers travelling for business or leisure are more frequently using low-cost-airlines and the numbers are on the increase. This impacted negatively on the bottom-line of our national carrier.
Restructuring is inevitable
Many times, restructuring at the place of work is necessary surgery. Much as the process is dreaded and painful to workers, the option to postpone decisions to a later date would make the process more complex and the outcomes would become more agonising.
This is one of the very, if not the most significant, basic differences between private sector, bottom-line-driven companies and government owned companies. Over the years, it has been amply demonstrated that successive governments are not capable of running public, bottom-lined-riven corporations unless they have a monopoly in the sector or are well regulated.
In cut-throat market competition, the ability to take bold, timely, corrective decisions and to have the agility to shift and adjust are essential elements to secure success. Complacency and postponing decisions will not stop cut-throat market competition from taking its toll sooner or later.
In the absence of taking the necessary measures, our national carrier may cease to operate or be handed as a gift on a silver platter to an already identified organisation without issuing an international expression of interest. This is now becoming fashion. Our Power Station has been handed to a company from China and a Jordanian Company has been identified to take 90,000 square metres in an ODZ area. In both occasions, agreements where not tabled in the House for scrutiny.
On the other hand, if restructuring is carried out by non-political professionals, engaged in meaningful consultations with all stakeholders that take into account various views, not least those of workers, a new lease of life for our national carrier is indeed possible.
Restructuring is nothing new; this has been an ongoing process and always ranked highly on the national agenda throughout our economic and social development since Malta became an independent state.
Restructuring and change take place in every market-competing organisation at a rapid pace. Closures, downsizing, outsourcing, sub-contracting, mergers, de-localisations, and other different complex reorganisations are not new on the socioeconomic agenda.
The impacts of restructuring are far from being limited to mass layoffs. Job losses are only the tip of the iceberg. The negative effects and repercussions are immense if restructuring is not conducted properly. This process requires considerable attention to those who leave the organisations - the “victims” of layoffs - but also to those left behind - the “survivors”.
In bottom-line-driven companies of whatever size or nature, restructuring has never been an easy process. Changing work practices is, in itself, a big challenge to all stakeholders, particularly to workers. However, if restructuring is properly conducted and managed although there are very limited cushioned landings, soft landings are possible.