A court has ordered Air Malta to pay €65,000 in unpaid performance bonuses to its former Chief Human Resources Officer, James Genovese, in a judgment delivered on Friday.

The case was filed about a month after Air Malta ceased operations on 30 March 2024, following a downsizing process that began in 2021. The airline was immediately replaced by KM Malta Airlines after the European Commission refused further state aid.

Judge Audrey Demicoli ruled that Air Malta remained contractually bound to pay bonuses promised in Genovese's employment contracts, despite the absence of internal policies or formal KPI structures regulating their award.

Genovese joined the airline in 2017 as Head of People and Industrial Relations, became Acting CHRO in 2019, and formally assumed the role in 2020 under a three-year contract. Although that contract expired in April 2023, he continued carrying out CHRO duties.

A separate dispute over a salary reduction after the contract expired was settled during proceedings. The remaining issue concerned unpaid bonuses dating back to 2018.

Under his original contract, Genovese was entitled to a bonus of up to 20% of his annual salary. A later contract capped this at €10,000 annually, subject to KPI achievement. Apart from a bonus for 2017/2018, he said he received nothing further.

Air Malta argued the claims were time-barred, discretionary, and unenforceable because no formal bonus policy or KPI framework had been implemented. It also cited a 2020 side letter, a 2021 suspension of bonuses, and a 2022 VETS application.

The court rejected all these arguments, holding that the contractual bonus clauses created binding obligations and that Air Malta could not rely on its own failure to set KPIs to avoid payment.

Although Genovese claimed €103,407, the court fixed the amount due at €65,000, plus 8% annual interest and legal costs.