MaltaMedia.com

The collective agreement signed between Air Malta and the Airline Pilots
Association (ALPA) is a win-win agreement designed to ensure increased
operational flexibility for the airline resulting in better management of its
operational costs. Air Malta was reacting to an article published today in
the local media about this agreement.

The real cost of this agreement is the net difference between the gains
achieved by the Company through negotiation, and the headline figure
quoted in the article. The real cost for the airline would thus result in a far
smaller figure than that cited by the article.

The airline reiterates that the collective agreement signed with ALPA was
negotiated within the same parameters of the discussions undertaken
with other unions. It meets the requirements of the restructuring plan
approved by the European Commission and is in-line with the financial
constraints of the airline. Any changes to the collective agreement are the
result of a give-and-take approach adopted by both parties and related to
productivity and efficiency gains.

Air Malta explained that the agreement was reached after marathon and
very difficult discussions whereby both sides discussed proposals aimed
at achieving workable solutions strictly within the airline’s budget and
current operational realities. It is significant that both the Airline and the
Union understood each other’s position and worked in a spirit of
collaboration to achieve a workable solution.

Following the successful conclusion of negotiations between the airline’s
management and ALPA’s executive, the agreement was approved by
both the airline’s Board of Directors and the ALPA members. Following
the conclusion of this process, the 4-year collective agreement with ALPA
was signed a few days ago.