“A new reality and a changed aviation industry will be created,” said Air Malta CEO Capt. Clifford Chetcuti, in an opinion piece published on The Malta Business Observer.

Capt. Chetcuti gave an overview of the current situation with Air Malta, which is operating at less than 10 pe cent of its full capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel ban.

“The airline is evaluating the impact of potential changes and various possible scenarios that might develop, including the introduction of passenger screening at airports; leaving an empty middle seat onboard aircraft; and changing inflight catering, as well as other options.

“These changes will have consequences for the operating model of all airlines. Introducing such procedures would depend on new regulatory measures that might be imposed by health and airport authorities, in addition to other commercial considerations,” he wrote.

Air Malta has made headlines in recent weeks after a public spat with the Pilot’s Union ALPA. Air Malta offered all unions - ALPA, The Union of Cabin Crew and the Association of Airline Engineers – a monthly salary of €1,200 in view of the company’s revenue streams grinding to a halt.

While the engineers accepted immediately, the cabin crew union appeared to partially accept and the pilots rejected the offer and requested further discussion. This led to Air Malta announcing it would retain just 44 cabin crew members out of 333 and it would also remove 108 pilots out of a total 134.

Since the announcement, further discussions have taken place about, with Economy Minister Silvio Schembri having said pilot redundancies could potentially be avoided.

In his opinion piece, Capt. Chetcuti said “the airline is in discussions with unions with a view to enter an agreement that sees the airline and its team standing together to navigate through this storm.”

Reflecting personally on his experience in the aviation industry, Capt. Chetcuti said:

“In my over 30 years’ experience in the aviation industry, I have borne witness to some devastating events that hit the travel and tourism sector particularly hard. Two Gulf Wars, 9/11, SARS, the closure of borders around the state of Qatar are but a few, but none have had the global catastrophic effects the COVID-19 pandemic is creating.

“Throughout all those prior events, airports remained open and aircraft continued to fly. This time around, options to generate revenue are limited, to say the least, as Governments have imposed heavy restrictions with borders closing as of February and travel directives changing on an hourly basis.”

He said that as a consequence of state-imposed restrictions and the spread of the virus, Air Malta’s strategy went from “growth” to “survival”.

The national carrier has long been used as a political football, with a previous Nationalist Party Government in 2012 needing to get approval from the European Union for a state bail-out, which would ordinarily go against single-market rules.

Successive Labour Government’s have undergone aggressive cost cutting measures, and in 2019 had declared that the airline had turned a profit for the first time in 18 years, worth €1.2 million.

Following the publication of the figures however, the Times of Malta reported that were it not for a nearly €34 million in revenue from the disposal of landing rights in 2018, the airline would have registered a loss of €17 million (after restructuring costs and non-recurring items).

This would have been larger than the loss recorded in the previous year, which had reached nearly €14 million. Air Malta has said the paper failed to take into comments by the external auditor and the fact that the restructuring costs were a non-recurring event.

Air Malta CEO Capt. Clifford Chetcuti

In his opinion piece Capt. Chetcuti praised the airline for offering a ‘Lifeline’ schedule of flights supporting critical supply chain links and repatriation flights.

The airline’s ‘Lifeline’ schedule of flights is continuing. Since the start of its limited timetable, Air Malta has operated more than 75 return flights, repatriated over 900 passengers and transported well over 200 tons of urgent medical supplies, mail and cargo.

“We continue to make sure that we maintain a seamless connectivity to the Maltese islands and limit the disruption to supply chains during this very challenging period.

“In the coming weeks, we will also be organising several freighter services for the Government of Malta in order to transport in excess of 800 tons of medical equipment and supplies. “

Moreover, Air Malta embarked on a thorough cost cutting exercise that comprises the re-negotiation of contracts including aircraft leases and the review of communication costs, and started negotiations with various other suppliers.

“The airline’s interest is to ensure that its long-term viability is safeguarded and that operations are not compromised, whilst protecting the livelihood of its workforce.”

He commented that “as an island state on the periphery of Europe, air connectivity is vital for the Maltese islands in the absence of any land connections.

“Air Malta is thus both critical and a catalyst to the Maltese economic and social recovery as well as its development.

“It was the national airline that spearheaded the development of Malta’s vibrant tourism industry and opened new and diverse tourism markets which have managed to put the Maltese archipelago on the international tourism map.

“The connectivity that Air Malta offers to major airports is not only important for tourism stakeholders but also for the local manufacturing, gaming and financial services industries.

“Courageous decisions will have to be taken in the face of this adversity and a changed postCOVID-19 scenario.”

He concluded by saying:

“However, I am confident that with sheer determination, and the hard work of Air Malta’s skilled team and industry expertise, the airline will overcome this challenge by becoming more agile and by continuing to play a pivotal role to the Maltese islands’ economic and social wellbeing for the years to come. Together we stand.”