David Curmi, the politically appointed Executive Chairman of KM Malta Airlines, is being paid a staggering €260,000 a year, or five times the financial package of his boss, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana.
Following a lengthy legal battle by The Shift, after the Finance Ministry repeatedly resisted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to publish Curmi’s contract, this newsroom won the day with the Data Protection Commissioner declaring that the contract was in the public interest.
An analysis of the contract, signed on 1 December, 2023, a few months before the official folding of Air Malta, shows that Curmi, 66, who never worked in the area before his appointment, is being paid the same remuneration he was receiving from Air Malta, amounting to €21,500 a month.
His high remuneration, at least in Maltese terms, was maintained even though Curmi is now managing a much smaller airline compared to Air Malta.
At Air Malta, Curmi’s contract was paid directly by the Finance Ministry, as he was hired as a consultant to serve as the Executive Chairman. This arrangement was made because Air Malta, which had been brought to a state of insolvency under Curmi’s leadership, could not afford to pay his salary.
Following that, a new contract was signed with KM Malta Airlines, and the company’s funds are used to pay his salary.
Curmi was appointed Air Malta Chairperson in 2021 with the brief to develop a restructuring plan aimed at keeping Air Malta flying while obtaining the European Commission’s approval for hundreds of millions of euro in fresh state funds to be pumped into the beleaguered national carrier.
Curmi’s mission ultimately proved to be a complete failure, as the company continued to incur tens of millions of euro in losses, and Brussels rejected Curmi’s draft restructuring plan.
This led to the government closing down the national airline and establishing a new one, with a fresh €440 million injection from state coffers, covering years of massive losses due to mismanagement and political interference.
Public funds included millions in payouts to former employees, who were either forced to quit or placed on the state payroll as new government employees, essentially receiving a job for life.
KM Malta Airlines had its first flights on 31 March 2024 – Freedom Day.
So far, the company has not yet published its first set of annual accounts. However, The Shift is informed that the new company ended the year significantly in the red and has made limited progress.
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Tags
#Air Malta
#Clyde Caruana
#david curmi
#European Commission
#KM Malta Airways
#state coffers
David( in Fondo) il 260000 euros Kolla int QED tohodom jewwwwww?
WOW, WHAT A BENEVOLENT CHARACTER, HIS ANNUAL TAX DUE, KEEPS 10 AVERAGE PENSIONERS AND THEIR FAMILIES LIVING FOR A WHOLE YEAR. cHAPEAU, SIR.
Fuq 6 habbiet ghaddej ukoll! THe nub is, is he delivering or just raking in the bucks?
100€ is siegha
Kalkulati fuq 10 sieghaT ghal 5 t ijiem
Prosit Clyde Caruana
Prosit
Ghandhom ghal qalbek IL fondi pubblici?
Thats normal. KM Malta Airlines does not have a separate Chief Executive Officer. Instead, David Curmi holds the combined responsibility as both Executive Chairman and de facto CEO of the airline. 260k is cheap.
Prosit Ministru !! Dan curmi value for money allura ? Il-paga kollha ghalih ghallura dan ??
u tghid xi naqra ma jxahhmux lil min tah dal job mizeru !!
I am ready to do the job for 150 THOUSAND a year
And then you try and genuinely apply for a post at KM malta airlines, you sit through a lengthy interview, to then find out that the post in question was eliminated and joined to someone else’s role – who magically seems to have time to be head of marketing and head of communications at the same time! KM should probably stand for kilo-Miracles at this point
I had the same, their hiring process needs to be outsourced as everyone who works there is related.
Qabda korrotti.jaq.
It would be interesting to hear what Michael o Leary would have to say this this. He has been very vocal over the years in regards to how chairpersons get crazy salaries while watching their own product go down the drain
What a shame. Bet in private Sector he would not last a day
Failure rewarded. Handsomely.
He is the best. Just look at the results.