ALPA condemns attempt to discredit president

The Airline Pilots' Association (ALPA) condemns the personal attack by Air Malta posted on the media in an attempt to discredit ALPA’s president Capt. Dominic Azzopardi.

ALPA said that the story reported on the Sunday Times does not portray the facts as actually happened and serve only to put one of our members in bad light and a clear attempt at character assassination. First of all it will take more than such an article to discredit ALPA’s president and we find the timing of this article highly suspicious. This especially, after the information has been “leaked” right after ALPA registered an industrial dispute with the company on Friday.

ALPA questions how this event merited front page coverage whilst a letter by ex Airmalta Chairman Louis Grech on the RJ Saga was relegated to the middle pages.

"Could the fact that Air Malta’s current chairman Louis Farrugia, who sits on the Allied Newspaper’s board of directors, have anything to do with the matter?", ALPA asks.

"This kind of attitude shown by the airline only serves to provoke and sheds light on the dirty tactics that the company’s higher management is resorting to in an attempt to discredit the Union", stated ALPA.

ALPA said that it will not comment on the matter further, pending the investigation’s outcome. Furthermore, ALPA is expressing it’s concern at the fairness of this inquiry, since now it’s been biased and marred by the
unwarranted and misleading media leak.

For.U.M.'s reponse

In a statement Forum of Maltese Unions (For.U.M.) condemns yesterday’s Sunday Times front page article. In their opinion,  the President of ALPA, which is an affiliate to For.U.M. has been made the culprit of the delay concerning an Air Malta flight, when proper and transparent investigations of this case are still ongoing.

"This article has only served to put a very bad light on the integrity and professionalism of Air Malta Pilots and has already prejudiced any ongoing investigation. The Forum of Maltese Unions sincerely hopes that this information was not leaked to the Press intentionally in order to create a smoke-screen in such a delicate time for Air Malta. For.U.M. also trusts that this article was not intended to undermine ALPA’s efforts in the present negotiations which are intended to safeguard both our National Airline and the long term interests of all employees," For.U.M. General Secretary Paul Pace said.

For.U.M. notes that there has been  systematic and methodical attacks on various Union leaders forming part of For.U.M. in these last few years and most of these purposely designed articles always seem to originate from the same source.