Air Malta is once again in the news. This time, its future is at stake and its plight has taken an unexpected turn following the very strong statement made by Dominic Azzopardi, the President of Air Malta’s Pilots' Union, about the alleged abuse that is taking place in the way the company is handling cargo transportation. Air Malta was quick to react and demand Azzopardi to retract his statement and even threatened Mr Azzopardi with a lawsuit. Mr. Azzopardi stuck to his guns and refused to retract his statement. This led Air Malta to ask the police to investigate.
Air Malta is today what our Dockyard was a few years ago. The Nationalist Government succeeded in turning a loss-making company into one that is now making a profit. Most importantly, this process has taken place without our dockyard losing its Maltese identity.
The reasons why the Dockyard was making losses were many. The most important was its work force and the political interference in running this enterprise. The problems of Air Malta are not far different. Political interference was rife in the past and the company too has suffered from an unjustifiable large labour force that precludes it from making a profit.
The Nationalist Government solved the Dockyard saga in a most commendable manner, even taking upon its shoulders the workforce and then offering the docks to the highest bidder. The process was clean and crystal clear. The result is that today, our government is earning millions from an industry that until recently was a “mażra” or millstone around its neck.
But for this to happen, the Dockyard had to reduce its workforce, which at its peak employed 12,000, and which, today employs around 250 persons. This is the feasible or better still realistic number of workers that can be employed to make the company economically viable.
Why should a similar strategy not be adopted for Air Malta? Everyone knows Air Malta's problems but nobody wants to take responsible but difficult decisions and upset the airline's organogram, least of all, a Labour Government that fears losing votes.
Very few believe that the absorption of Air Malta by Alitalia is the best possible option. The fact that Alitalia is a direct competitor is seen by many as a rogue move. The frank statement made by Alitalia's president, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, encapsulates this fact and shows that Alitalia’s main interest is to eliminate a competitor. The risk is that Malta loses a number of direct routes and travellers who want to reach Malta or locals who want to go abroad will start being diverted through Italian airports. Is this beneficial for Malta? Is all this good for our tourism? I have my doubts. Therefore, it is in the national interest that Malta continues to have its national carrier. This is also the belief of many in Malta. I happen to be one of them.
Mr Azzopardi also believes that Air Malta has a future. I have no problem to state that everybody knows Mr Azzopardi's political colours, but he is showing to one and all that his interests transcend politics. He complained in the past, when the Nationalists were in government but did not budge when there was a change in administration. His position remains the same.
What I find strange is that when Palumbo threatened one of Senglea's residents with legal action, the Prime Minister defended this particular resident against what appeared to many, including myself, as a bullying tactic from a big enterprise. Now, that there is a similar case; Air Malta is threatening a union leader with legal action following a statement he made. But this time the Prime Minister has decided to remain silent. This reflects badly on the Prime Minister.
One would have expected the unions to express support and solidarity towards Mr Azzopardi. Normally, unions used to unite when employers attacked other union members. Therefore, I expected an even stronger support for Mr Azzopardi from our unions.
What Malta does not want is another Sea Malta dénouement. For this not to happen, negotiations need to be led by people who are supra partes and with a will to safeguard this airline. If not, we will end up in the pitiable situation we have had this week, when the Minister responsible for Maritime Affairs, Manuel Mallia, spoke favourably about the return of the Tirrenia to Malta, when during its absence, we had our own sea line but thanks to politics we killed it.
Back in the seventies, the Nationalist Opposition used to tease Mintoff stating that Air Malta’s planes were ajruplani taċ-ċomb (aeroplanes made from lead), in reference to the toys that children of the elite played with in those days. Unfortunately, a number of incompetent managerial decisions have reduced Air Malta to this sad situation because it was led by a number of individuals, who had no genuine motive to make Air Malta profitable but merely used the company to boost their own personal businesses.
This sad saga must come to an end. Sacrifices need to be made. But I would prefer that such sacrifices are made by the Maltese rather than have them imposed on the workers by a foreign company that does not give a hoot about Malta. Therefore, Government should either go for the Leader of the Opposition's proposal that Air Malta’s remaining shares are offered to the Maltese and that the shareholders then elect the appropriate managerial team or Government finds an investor that is ready to take over the company with the premise, that the new owner keeps it as Malta’s national carrier as was the case with the dockyard.