KM Malta Airlines’ troubling drug and alcohol cover-up

On 19 August, the BBC reported that Kathryn Scott, a Virgin Atlantic cabin crew member, was removed from a plane after turning up for work four times over the alcohol limit – she was charged and released on bail and is now awaiting trial.

The news of the swift action to remove the alleged offender from the flight was reported widely by several media organisations, ensuring that public trust in Virgin Atlantic and the airline industry as a whole was preserved.

On 3 August, Newsbook reported that two KM Malta Airlines cabin crew failed drug and alcohol random tests but were still allowed to operate the Malta-Milan-Rome flights. The positive tests were kept under wraps.

Repeated questions and reminders to both KM Malta Airlines and Transport Malta were consistently ignored before the story was reported.  The captain operating that flight was not even informed of the positive tests of his crew members. The captain was not involved in deciding to allow those crew members to continue to operate the flight.

When the news of the serious safety breach leaked out,  the airline pilots’ association, ALPA, asked the airline, which confirmed that the incident had indeed occurred.  Meanwhile, the pilots’ association issued directives to its members not to sit for any drug or alcohol testing until KM Malta Airlines had concluded its review process.

KM Malta Airlines, according to Newsbook, stopped conducting those random tests on aircraft crew.

The only problem is that those random tests are intended to ensure the safety of passengers and crew members.  Drug and alcohol testing for airline crew members is mandatory and is required by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

If flight or cabin crew are found to be positive for alcohol or drugs, pilots’ licences and crew members’ attestation could be suspended or revoked.

After ignoring questions and refusing to reply to multiple reminders, KM Malta Airlines issued a statement once the story was published.  That statement caused the airline more harm.  It is nothing short of bizarre.

It referred to “certain articles that appeared in sections of the media”.  The article confirmed that “15 crew members were tested over two days” and that “two of the 15 tests conducted resulted in a ‘non-negative’”.  What’s a non-negative? A positive.

Yet the airline couldn’t even bring itself to be transparent about something so glaringly obvious.  It attempted to continue to cover up the worrying incident with its doublespeak.

KM Malta Airlines kept tying itself up in knots, contradicting itself with every sentence.  “Both crew members tested negative for alcohol and drugs. The attending medical practitioner confirmed that the positive result was not of concern and determined the two cabin crew members as being fit to fly”.

That doesn’t reassure the public.  It creates confusion and distrust.  It compounds the very real concern that the airline is not only being economical with the truth but is actively concealing the facts.  That’s a far cry from Virgin Atlantic’s response to a positive test in one of its own crew members.

KM Malta Airlines was compelled to admit: “The Civil Aviation Directorate issued a formal finding, KM Malta Airlines subsequently submitted corrective measures, which were accepted by the Civil Aviation Directorate”. If everything was done right, why did KM Malta Airlines have to submit corrective action?

Transport Malta was slightly more explicit.  They confirmed that an investigation “found that KM Malta Airlines had not fully adhered to internal company procedures and applicable regulatory requirements in relation to the matter… As a result, a formal finding was issued by the Civil Aviation Directorate concerning shortcomings in the airline’s management system”.

KM Malta Airlines’ statement never mentioned any “shortcomings”.  Its ridiculously contradictory statement did not allay public concerns about safety on board its flights; it augmented them.  How can the same alcohol and drugs test be “non-negative”, “negative” and “positive” at the same time?

“The finding has since been closed”, the KM Malta Airlines’ statement concluded.  Yet nothing is closed.

Our country has witnessed, particularly in the last few weeks, the horrific trail of death and destruction that alcohol abuse has wreaked on our streets.  The lack of enforcement, the ridiculously light penalties, the suspended sentences and the political inertia propagate an environment where drivers of vehicles, including those providing public transport, can remain at the wheel even under the influence of mind-altering substances.

If the intoxication of road drivers can be so devastating, just imagine what disasters that same lack of enforcement in airline crew could lead to.

On 15 -16 April KM Malta Airlines tested 15 members of its airline crew.  Two of them tested “positive”, or “non-negative” or “negative” – take your pick. That’s 13% of KM Malta Airline’s crew.  That’s a worryingly high proportion.  But what’s even more concerning is that when faced with those test results, instead of doing what Virgin Atlantic did, KM Malta Airlines chose to let those crew members operate that flight.

When an airline’s priority is burying the truth instead of robustly addressing safety concerns, trust is squandered. And without passenger trust, an airline can’t fly for long – at least not profitably. If an airline is found to have “shortcomings” in ensuring the sobriety of its crew members, where else is it cutting corners?