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9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 F inance Minister Clyde Caruana de- livered a very blunt assessment of Air Malta and the changes that have to take place to make the airline viable again. He spared no punches during a sober analy- sis delivered last week, even implying that his immediate predecessors politically responsi- ble for the airline had done a bad job. e financial analysis presented by Air Mal- ta's executive chairman, David Curmi, paints a very poor picture of an airline that has failed to return a profit since 2005. e only profits registered in 2018 and 2019, Curmi said, were the result of one-off asset sales that saw Air Malta transfer its key airport slots to a government company and sell the rights to its name to another govern- ment company. e analysis came in the wake of govern- ment's discussions with the European Com- mission to get permission to pump state aid into the airline. Caruana said Brussels has not yet laid out the size of the financial aid it is prepared to allow and a final decision is expected in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, he said government's restruc- turing plan was independent from the aid package the commission would green-light. e restructuring plan foresees a halving of Air Malta's workforce, dumping previous plans for long-haul flights that required re- negotiating a contract with Airbus for two long-haul aircraft to be replaced with three planes more adapted to the airline's needs, a change in livery to cut costs, the need to negotiate new collective agreements that in- clude greater flexibility, and a commitment to operate only those routes that are profitable. Caruana and Curmi said the plan will give the airline a new lease of life. e minister's bold statements are wel- come, especially coming on the eve of a gen- eral election. Any politician would have opt- ed to wait after an election to announce such a potentially damaging reform. Caruana was forthright about this: "I want- ed to be honest with workers. We owe them this much." is leader only hopes that the minister's blunt approach does not go down the same road as past attempts to restructure the air- line. Similar tough talk was mouthed in 2004 and 2012 when the airline underwent re- structuring. is time around there is no second chance in the offing. is is, in Caruana's words, the last chance for the airline to survive. Air Malta remains crucial to Malta's con- nectivity with key airports throughout Eu- rope and the neighbourhood. Saving the air- line is not only an act of national pride but of strategic importance. However, by choosing financial survival, the country will have to do without routes Air Malta tapped into for tourism's sake. is means that entities such as the Malta Tourism Authority must be more active in attracting other airlines to operate to and from Malta. Relying on Air Malta's benev- olence works no more and the MTA has to pull up its socks. One other aspect of the reform is the alter- native employment scheme government has put in place so that redundant Air Malta em- ployees do not end up without a job. e scheme promises alternative employ- ment with government on similar conditions. is leader joins the chorus of business lobby groups that have asked for these em- ployees to be seconded with the private sec- tor rather than burden public administration with €15 million more in wages. Government should consider this sugges- tion because it not only reduces the pressure on public funds but also helps plug some of the labour shortages certain sectors are fac- ing. Saving Air Malta… again 20.1.2022

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