Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1164600
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 SEPTEMBER 2019 3 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA AN Air Malta pilot who was busy purchasing flowers from an airport terminal when his flight should have been making a quick return to Malta to take stranded passengers to Paler- mo, is being blamed for ignor- ing airline instructions. On Monday passengers were left stranded at Malta Interna- tional Airport as an Air Malta flight from Malta to Palermo was delayed by more than 19 hours. The flight to Palermo, KM662, was scheduled to de- part Malta at 5:30am – but was then scheduled to depart Malta International Airport at 10pm. A lightning strike had prevented one aircraft from flying due to technical checks, and "extraordinary" levels of crew sickness led to the delay, the airline said. But the 10pm flight never did leave on time – MaltaTo- day can confirm – because Air Malta's plan to bring its Am- sterdam flight back to Malta as fast as possible to then fly to Palermo, was thwarted after crew were said to have ignored company instructions. The Air Malta flight to Am- sterdam was scheduled to leave Malta at 12:40pm on Monday, but was pushed to 2pm to be within the captain's standby duty hours, a confidential source told MaltaToday. After a 30-minute delay due to late crew boarding, the flight left for Amsterdam. Soon after departing at 2:40pm, the flight was informed to speed up to its destination and effect a quick turnaround, that is, prepare for an earlier return from Schiphol airport back to Malta, so that it could take the stranded pas- sengers to Palermo. The source who spoke to MaltaToday said the airline was hoping the plane could be back in air within 45 minutes of landing in Amsterdam. The plane landed in Amster- dam at 5:36pm (CET), however at 6:45pm the airplane had still not made its turnaround and was still on ground. MaltaToday was told that the plane had not started refuel- ling upon landing, and that Air Malta officials were informed the pilot had gone out to pur- chase flowers from inside the airport terminal before any re- fuelling could take place. The action resulted in a long- er turnaround, and the plane only left Schiphol at 7:50pm. Yet once the plane arrived in Malta at 9:54pm, the pilot was unable to fly the next plane to Palermo of because that would breach his flight hours limit. A new crew and pilot had to be summoned to fly to Palermo; at that point the 10pm flight had to be once again delayed. Pilots fly 75 hours of flying duty per month, as allowed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The Palermo flight only man- aged to leave Malta at 12:30am, resulting not just in furious passengers in Malta but also in Palermo, where disgruntled passengers had been waiting for hours without being told what was happening. A spokesman for Air Malta said the airline had experienced a number of unexpected chal- lenges with scheduling. He said two aircraft had experienced technical issues, including one that was struck by lightning. There had been an unexpected number of crew members who called in sick. Air Malta later sent out a tweet apologising for the situation. "Safety remains Air Malta's top priority." Air Malta and its pilot mem- bers at the Airline Pilots As- sociation (ALPA) have been on frayed relations since the un- ion took industrial action after the government failed to offer guarantees to retain an early retirement scheme that pays them €700,000 at retirement at age 55, should the airline fail. Ever since the signing of the collective agreement early last year, Air Malta has been in long and tough discussions with AL- PA over interpretations of this agreement and other issues. The government has long warned that it would pass the handling of Air Malta to an- other government company, Malta MedAir, should pilots take debilitating action against the airline. "If the pilots threaten the oper- ation of Air Malta at this crucial moment of the year and unless pilots change their behaviour, the operation of growth of the airline will not be undertaken through the core airline but through Malta MedAir – a company wholly owned by the Maltese government which was set up in January 2018." ALPA only recently reached an agreement with Air Malta to improve its pay packages, with captains earning up to €150,000 a year, and first offic- ers paid €100,000 a year. Tulips from Amsterdam... delay Air Malta flights KARL AZZOPARDI HOME Affairs Minister Mi- chael Farrugia has said that efforts are currently under- way to increase Malta's ca- pacity at Open Centres, fol- lowing two migrant protests at the Safi Detention Centre in recent weeks. NGOs have argued that mi- grants are being kept longer than legally necessary in de- tention, a situation that has led to the protests. Now, in replies to journalists, Far- rugia has implied that the lengthier detention was the result of a lack of capacity in open centres. He said that in recent months, a number of pre-fab- ricated containers and beds had been added at the Open Centre to reduce, as much as possible, the amount of time spent at the Safi centre. "We believe that a balance should be struck between hu- manitarian aspects and secu- rity considerations," Farrugia said. "We have certain obliga- tions towards people once they are out of detention. We can't just tell them 'now go and see how you are going to live your life', but are obliged to, for a period of time, offer residency in an open centre". Once at the centre, Farrugia said, migrants are told that they can stay for up to a year, during which they are given the opportunity to find em- ployment in Malta. Farrugia added that talks were underway with Church authorities for a public social partnership that would see the church offer their facili- ties and beds to migrants. Last week, a group of 34 NGOs said that the detention of asylum seekers on medical grounds at the Safi barracks was unlawful. They pointed out that na- tional laws allowed health authorities to restrict an indi- vidual's movement for medi- cal treatment for a period not exceeding four weeks, which may be exceptionally extend- ed for up to ten weeks for the purpose of finalizing any tests that may be necessary. Asked to comment on the NGOs claims, Farrugia said that authorities were "length- ening the process of deten- tion related to health as much as possible for us to be more effective". He failed to elabo- rate. Minister implies that migrants are being kept in detention because open centres are full