Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/875714
3 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 News MIRIAM DALLI GROUND handling operations at Air Malta have been hived off into a newly set up government company which will be servic- ing the national airline, and other carriers, Tourism Minis- ter Konrad Mizzi announced. The announcement was made on the same day that the airline announced the introduction of a ticket-only class, with prices starting off at just €39. An agreement was reached in the recent hours with the General Workers' Union, which represents some 400 to 500 ground handlers. The sections affected are the Ground Han- dling Service Operations Sec- tion, the Ground Equipment Maintenance Section, and the Cargo Operations section. It was ensured that the em- ployment conditions of all em- ployees are safeguarded. The agreement was conclud- ed after discussions under the aegis by President Emeritus George Abela, conducted by Air Malta chairman Charles Mangion, Ronald Mizzi, per- manent secretary, and GWU secretary general Josef Bugeja and Sandro Vella. The hiving-off of these op- erations means that Air Malta's workforce will now stand at some 600 workers. The creation of the new com- pany also means a substantial cut to costs that appear directly on the airline's books, Mizzi said. "The new company will have a new business plan in order to generate further growth, in- vestment in new equipment, and generate new business," he added. Mangion added that the air- line company would be focus- ing more on its core business of flight operations. Mizzi last week said he would break up Air Malta to re-create the company from the ground up if unions insist on unsus- tainable salary demands. The government, along with the Air Malta management and the various unions, are nego- tiating collective agreements for employees set to come into force on 1 January, 2018. Under Konrad Mizzi's stew- ardship, Air Malta has em- barked on an aggressive busi- ness plan meant to ensure that the airline can survive on its own steam, without govern- ment subsidies. In 2012, the European Com- mission green-lit a €260 million state funding tranche. Talks between the government and airline unions are strained: demands from the Union of Cabin Crew and the Airline Pi- lots Association (ALPA) are now entering a tight deadlock. The UCC wants a 10% in- crease on salaries, while the pi- lots are demanding 30%. Mizzi has indicated he will not accept "unsustainable" de- mands for salary increases. "The taxpayers cannot keep injecting more money into the airline," Mizzi told MaltaToday yesterday morning. To sustain its revenues, the air- line needs to sell over a million tickets more each year. Increas- ing the airbus fleet, introducing new products and correcting the balance sheet will not be enough if an internal effort is not made, the minister argued. "We want to give workers a fair package and we are offer- ing increases over five years. We have offered the maximum we can give… we have to be rea- sonable," Mizzi said. He argued that pilots had to increase flight times whilst the number of cabin crew mem- bers on board a flight should go down from five to four. "It is with a sense of respon- sibility that I say that every- one needs to come together or the airline will fail. We are all bound by responsible choices." Air Malta hives off ground handling operations, introduces cheap fares 'Go Light' – Air Malta's new cheap fares Air Malta introduced a new ticketing model, through which it aims to improve its visibility on price comparison websites such as SkyScanner. The 'Go Light' ticket fare starts at just €39 for a 10kg hand luggage; the new fare system also includes the 'Go Smart' and the 'Go Flex'. The derided bread roll and water bottle will still be handed out, until the end of year. The airline spent the past week testing the new class, ticket-only, which is ex- pected to show much better in the reservation system. Within a week, and without any mass media adverts, Air Malta sold 25,000 tickets at the Go Light fare. "The Go Light fare is just €39 for almost all routes – to London, to Paris, to Brus- sels and to Amsterdam," Air Malta chief commercial officer Paul Sies said as he listed some of Europe's most vibrant cities. This class fare won't be applicable to Tunis and Moscow. YANNICK PACE A NUMBER of training pro- grammes will be launched in the coming weeks for inmates, with the aim of improving their chances of integrating back into society after serving their time in prison. Addressing a press confer- ence together with parliamen- tary Secretary for EU funds Aaron Farrugia, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia said that the €1 million project will see both the facility's inmates and employees trained. The project is being funded by the European Social Fund. The minister said that ini- tially, 120 professional and 77 residents would be trained. "The aim will be to give the residents the necessary skills for them to be able to join the workforce," said Farrugia, add- ing that effective social reinte- gration would also be a prior- ity. The project, he said, would be spread across four main areas, namely: formal and in- formal education that include vocational training and sports; physical and mental health fo- cusing on drug abuse, anger management and sexuality; re- parative justice for inmates to be able to give back to society; as well as work and accommo- dation. Farrugia said that research had shown that in cases where former inmates struggled to find employment or accom- modation, the chances of them ending up back in jail were sig- nificantly higher. He stressed that through the initiative the ministry hoped to give inmates a second chance. In addition to work with in- mates, the minister said that the project will also aim to work with their families, again, to ensure that they do not fall into past habits once the in- mates are out. "In addition to the funds, the ministry wants to have a sys- tem of profiling for each in- mate," he said. Farrugia said that the minis- try would also be undertaking research in order to better un- derstand inmates' life experi- ences. This, he said, would in turn allow authorities to make Vet- ter informed decisions going forward. Part of a broader 'holistic plan' Farrugia said that the ini- tiative should not be viewed in isolation but as part of a 'holis- tic plan'. "We are addressing three strategies," he said. "The inte- gration of vulnerable people, the transition of the Corradino Correctional Facility from a prison to a correctional facility and further investment in hu- man resources." Farrugia argued that these plans showed the government was honouring its pledge of promoting and facilitating so- cial mobility. Government launches training program for prison inmates Konrad Mizzi... "maximum possible offered"