Air Malta - ALPA collective agreement is a win-win deal

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.