Former Air Malta Chairman Louis Farrugia always believed the long-term solution for Air Malta would be to partner with a company with commercially driven motivation, he told The Malta Independent.
Mr Farrugia ended his term as Air Malta Chairman in 2013. “When I left the airline we were working on a plan to make the airline profitable. I’m not in a position to comment as to why it is not profitable today, but it’s a very difficult company to manage”.
Air Malta is currently in discussions with Alitalia, in order for the latter to become a commercial partner with Malta’s international airline.
Asked whether there were any discussions at the time regarding finding a commercial partner or to privatise during his time as chairman, Mr Farrugia said: “There was always a vision, but we were not focused on that at time. We were focused on making a profit”.
“I believe in a commercially driven Air Malta, a shareholding structure which encourages commercial decisions rather than non-commercial decisions, and collective agreements have to make sense within that context,” he said.
As regards recent issues regarding collective agreement discussions, he said that they have to be closely connected with what is going on with Alitalia. “The future of Air Malta depends on agreements which are sustainable and it is no use coming to an agreement which the new owners cannot sustain,” he said when asked about the collective agreement situation between the airline and the four unions.
Air Malta workers must keep their jobs – Joseph Tabone
Speaking with this newsroom, former Chairman Joseph Tabone praised the work of Air Malta employees. Asked about the current situation, he said he wants all Air Malta workers to keep their jobs, stating that after all that Air Malta has been through, he believes none should be kicked out.
This newsroom asked whether during his time as chairman there were any discussions regarding privatising Air Malta or finding a commercial partner. He answered in the negative, adding that Air Malta was profitable when he was chairman.
Asked whether he agreed with the commercial partnership being discussed with Alitalia, he chose not to comment.