Air Malta pilots have approved plans by their union to “suspend the service”, threatening to ground planes as early as next week, an action the Finance Ministry warned could lead to the airline’s bankruptcy.

In a secret vote, the overwhelming majority of the 140-odd pilots gave the Airline Pilots’ Association the mandate to strike after it was learnt that 57 pilots were earmarked to be among the 511 workers facing redundancy through the restructuring exercise.

At a meeting yesterday, the pilots also agreed to hold a demonstration and passed a motion of no confidence in the individuals managing Air Malta since 2004.

Early last week, association president Domenic Azzopardi said the strike action was planned for July 16 and a demonstration would be held the day before in Valletta.

“The members have voted in favour of the idea of suspending the service, so we can call this action as early as tomorrow. But we will definitely not do it before the 16th,” Capt. Azzopardi said. “We would like those making decisions to do what is best for the company,” he said.

The association has been calling for Air Malta to renegotiate contracts which it says are costing the company heavily, particularly those involving Malta International Airport.

After the vote, pilots’ representatives met with Air Malta management to continue talks on the impact of the restructuring process on pilots and to sort out “some internal matters”.

The Finance Ministry condemned the planned strike, saying industrial action at this critical juncture was “very dangerous and threatens the very existence of the company”.

“The €52 million loan to Air Malta approved by Parliament this year is close to being exhausted and further financial loss, caused by industrial action, will push the company towards bankruptcy,” a spokesman for the ministry said. He said this would mean all the airline’s 1,300 jobs would be lost, besides the repercussions it would have on other businesses and families that depend on the tourism industry.

Appealing for responsibility, the ministry said the pilots’ association was represented at the meetings of the airline’s restructuring committee so it should be fully aware that Air Malta’s future depends on the plan being approved by the European Commission.

Air Malta also warned that “irresponsible” action would cause serious and permanent damage to the airline’s recovery and said the new management team must be given time and space to manage the problems it was facing.

It assured customers it was doing its utmost to avert any industrial action and offer a seamless service in the event of any disruptions.

Meanwhile, the Union of Cabin Crew said it was supporting the “protest” but did not support the strike action “at the moment”.

“The process is taking very long and we feel like it is 2004 all over again where the workers’ conditions change but other stakeholders don’t do their part. However, we’re still hoping to break the deadlock and move forward with negotiations,” president David Sargent said, when contacted.

He said the airline was still losing a lot of money and certain issues should have been dealt with “much earlier” but he was still hoping for a breakthrough in negotiations.

The union is expected to meet Air Malta management today.

General Workers’ Union general secretary Tony Zarb said of the pilots’ planned action: “Every union should choose its preferred method to defend its members. We will definitely not interfere on how they defend themselves. They are acting according to the law, which gives trade unions the right to call industrial action.”

He then added: “I’d rather we find solutions before having to resort to such action.”

The GWU will be meeting Air Malta bosses tomorrow and the union said it wanted to understand how the restructuring plan came up with the need to sack 511 workers.

After the meeting, Mr Zarb said, the union would “announce its stand” on whether it would join the protest being organised by the pilots.

Air Malta yesterday filed a judicial protest against the GWU after the union declared an industrial dispute on grounds that the airline was not guaranteeing alternative jobs for those workers who would be made redundant.

Air Malta warned that the union’s actions did not qualify within the law because the company could never give such guarantees, so it would hold it responsible for any damages or consequences incurred. Mr Zarb said Air Malta did not understand the union’s threats and promised a counter protest to be filed today.