Now this is true arrogance
Don’t you know who I am?
Odd, isn’t it, how Super One hasn’t reported the incident in which one of its stars, Simone Cini, and her husband, chief of the pilots’ union, obliged an entire planeload of people to wait at Malpensa airport after check-in had closed and the bridge to the plane had been disconnected.
Air Malta says it is investigating the incident and taking it very seriously indeed.
The newspapers have reported this, but I have additional news for you.
Joseph and Michelle and their coupley friends Edward and Elena Zammit Lewis (and presumably, Fifty Shades of Grey) were in business class on that flight, returning from their mittilkless wine-tasting holitej (sorry, can’t help it) in Asti.
I wouldn’t for one moment be surprised to discover that Mr and Mrs Simone Cini were in the same holiday party.
Mr Simone Cini (his real name is Dominic Azzopardi) denied using his influence as the pilots’ union chief – or even as an Air Malta pilot – to get his pilot colleague to wait, order the reopening of the check-in desk, and have the bridge reconnected so that he, Simone and their two children could make the flight instead of missing it.
They checked in 15 minutes after the plane should have left.
Perhaps they were following Joseph’s and Michelle’s example – they did the same when they left a flight waiting for half an hour while Michelle fussed around with the children in the airport lavatory after arriving late already.
Given Dominic Azzopardi’s denial that he used his influence to make the pilot wait, I trust that it was not the Leader of the Opposition who pulled rank with the pilot and asked him (very prettily) to wait for his friend and former Super One colleague Simone, and that nice husband of hers who is being so obliging to Labour in resisting reform at Air Malta.
What a charming example. Mur arahom fil-gvern.
I’m thinking it’s going to be a really bad idea to use Air Malta after 2013. We’ll be waiting for Joseph and Michelle, for Jason, for Silvio, for Anglu, for Mr and Mrs Simone Cini, for Mr and Mrs Charlon Gouder, and – why not? – for Judge and Mr Consuelo Herrera and their nice friends Mr and Mrs Carmen Pullicino Orlando.
It’s going to be just lovely: the Muppet Show brought to life.
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U il-MALTA TODAY kif baqghet siekta?
Gabet biss referenza qasira hafna fuq l-arroganza ta’ Domenic. Imma x’importanza tat ghar-riposta twila tieghu.
Dik serjeta ta’gazetta. Salvu joqghod attent ma jhassarix ma’ siehbu Joseph il-leader. Anyway, imbarazz ta’ gazetta.
Ryan Air would not even dream of delaying a flight even if the queen of England was late. Simone Cini is right to look at us with that insipid smile. All she needs to do is give us the one finger salute.
So travel with Ryan Air. The are much cheaper.
Of course Ryan Air would not dream of staying an extra minute on the runway, they even fuel the plane while passengers are getting off and on the plane, to save time.
I’m sure that some expenses were incurred in this delay.
They should be made to pay all expenses and even compensate the other frustrated passengeers.
I expect the one who replaced the CWIEC Maltin to do something against these arrogant persons.
It’s not the Minister who should be involved on such matters, it’s the management.
I have experienced flight delays on Ryan Air, the most recent from Pisa to Malta and no-one boarded late or anything.
[Daphne – This is not a discussion about flight delays. This is about flights being held up for passengers who are more equal than others. Don’t miss the point.]
It seems that in this particular Simone Cini case some Italian gate official was late for an appointment with his “amante”, as the gates did indeed close quite earlier than usual; I would vehemently protest if I were to be stranded just because of the whim of some gate official.
It appears that Mr. Azzopardi did the same. After some squabbling with the Italian officials, which took some time (thus the 15 mins or so delay), they were allowed onto the plane. No quibbles up till there.
What would be interesting to find out is whether the gates were opened just because Mr. Azzopardi happens to be who he is, or whether the flight would have been delayed even if it was Mr. Joe Public who had encountered this situation.
@Gahan.
It is all evident that I was not referring to the minister, but to the person who replaced (took the position) the usual Maltese Cwiec.
Maybe you are trying your best to live up to your name.
In which case you are doing quite well.
a plane (Lufthansa) waited for us in the early 80s, we were a very young group who got lost in Frankfurt Airport. It was the first time any of us had been to that airport. No fuss was made on the newspapers, since we were not at all famous.
I would of hoped things had changed 30 years later.
Airlines do sometimes wait for ’lost’ passengers , but when the check-in desk is closed it’s NEVER reopened, let alone the tunnel reconnected and the plane reopened after a 30 minute wait.
It is enough to wait for some MEP or MP who is on duty, but it is completely unacceptable to wait for an employee who probably did not even pay for his tickets. Mr Azzopardi was not on duty.
Then it’s true what they say: we are going back to the eighties! :)
Beata te, Grace. I missed my flight once, because my taxi was involved in a minor automobile accident and I got to the airport 25 minutes late. Luckily, I was covered by my insurance policy.
So according to you, it’s quite alright to keep everybody waiting on a plane because you couldn’t be arsed to get to the airport on time.
Madame Julia hardly ever opens her fat mouth without accusing one government member or another of arrogance. Vera wiccha u x’imkien iehor l-istess.
Yes, it is a big deal and shows an arrogance that is only tolerated by those who do not seem to expect much decorum from their politicians and their acolytes.
AirMalta has my full support in taking this matter seriously.
It is about time that these Labour incompetents stop treating this country like shit.
Were Mr. and Mrs Simone Cini travelling free off Air Malta’s back, by any chance?
Probably they all were, free passes courtesy of the union’s arrogant chief. You know, one big happy family pass?
I never understood how someone can arrive late for a friggin’ flight.
When I have to get a Ryanair flight at 6am, I use the last public transport night service and spend the night sleeping uncomfortably in a ghost airport, just to make sure I’m there in time.
Those not travelling low-cost will have their flights at more reasonable hours of day and probably arrive in a taxi (bully for them). They can surely time their arrival at the airport better?
It would be interestng now to watch the little elves congregating on the various online comment-boards in the vociferous defence of Mr. Simone Cini.
Mr and Mrs Azzopardi must be at the airport about two hours before the fight, like everyone else.
http://melahart.com/2012/08/08/franco-debonos-blog-is-the-new-place-to-be/
One can assess a person by the way they wield any sort of power they might have over others.
Bloggers ‘moderate’ and remove inconvenient comments or offensive ones.
Franco’s reaction to my answer was the ‘ delete’ button.
So now people can confirm (if confirmation was needed) that our Avvocato Di Pietro has a lot to answer for in respect of his voters, who include me.
Another young(ish), good-looking woman, damn it!
*Sigh*
[Daphne – Yes, right you are. But you have some stiff (oooops, too much talk of Fifty Shades of Grey) competition from one Dominic Azzopardi, who looks like he has a bit of a temper on him, so be careful, my dear. You don’t want to end up singing with a falsetto voice.]
I was expecting your comment, Martin. Why don’t you tell us about that furtive look in her eyes – qisha qed ti*****ek bik.
Seriously? I thought she was a he.
I wish I could take my voting document. roll it into the shape of a dart, dip the tip in a lethal poison and stab the heart of every corrupt bastard on the island.
Trouble is, I would run out of poison long before I got through them all.
Privatise AirMalta, and all this will go away.
When Socialists travel business class they show their true colours.
That’s OK. They are safe for business.
No they are not because they somehow end up getting a cut just because they are there, just like feudal lords.
Typical Labour.
Remember the fuss raised when a Gozo Channel boat returned to pick up the company chairman who had missed the boat?
Yes, and under The Times of Malta article about this Air Malta incident, a Mr. Toni Borg reminds a certain Eddy Privitera about what Mr. Privitera (the PL apologist) had to say about the Gozo Channel incident:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111127/letters/Arrogant-chairman-pressured-to-resign-1-.395643
The more they scent victory, the tougher it gets for them to hide their Fusellu-inspired arrogance.
The more I hear, the more I fear Labour.
Disgraceful behaviour. I hope the rest of the media pursue this story. Are they planning to camp in front of the captain’s house to extract the full story? They should.
My son missed his connection at Frankfurt airport because the flight from Malta was delayed. He found the gate closed. He missed the wedding he was supposed to be going to.
Rules are rules, but in Malta with Labour anything goes. Il-vera gungla.
Most certainly, practically free.
Sopra corne bastonate.
Poor AirMalta.
This will be the way they will govern once in office. They will trample on everyone as long as it benefits them.
Was this the contribution by the pilots’ chief to the new branding of Air Malta? Now I understand why the pilots’ union boycotted the event.
COMMENT DELETED
[Daphne – reuters/J Mifsud/J Abdilla/NoGo/gianni, your comment has been deleted. Don’t expect me to take responsibility for your anonymous spite. Go back to Franco’s blog. He uploads everything there, including the comments he writes himself.]
Somebody posted this comment on timesofmalta.com:
Today, 08:00
I wa on that flight, and I confirm that this person came in late, and the flight was already closed. This is a real disgrace and shame on you Mr azzopardi, you were sitting infront of me and was laughing around and heard all the things you did to block that flight from leaving.
Spill the beans here…. the people need to know whats going on.
This pompous git is abusing his position as both an airline pilot and union official. This affair stinks the whole way.
Business Class…god bless eh. Or was the check-in official following the rules of ‘closing the gate’, but it didn’t suit Mr and Mrs Simone Cini? Did the check-in official close the desk because THEY WERE NOT BOOKED ONTO THAT FLIGHT?
The airline employees who want to travel free cannot book. They can only can turn up early at the check-in desk, where the person at the desk is instructed to phone the head office and ask for clearance to allow these people on board.
They are only allowed on if there is place on the plane and if head office gives clearance.
Being a pilot he probably does this all the time, turning up last minute and getting the flight, whilet we`re paying all their flights through the hefty price we pay for our tickets. Oh, and he gets business class to boot.
Let’s cut the crap out of this farce once and for all.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/264733_10151112504407305_1968189166_n.jpg
It gets even worse apparently.
I think the Mayans saw it coming. They saw, all those years ago, that Joseph Muscat will be elected in December 2012 and that what will follow will be pure mayhem.
OFFENSIVE COMMENT DELETED.
Please tell us what you heard, and how he blocked the flight from going its very interested to know. Thanks.
So now when we are late all we have to do it to contact the AIR MALTA desk at the aiport and demand that the flight be held up for our convenience, citing previous examples.
A flight departure delay from Milan was classified as a very serious incident deserving investigation and was given prominence on the front page of The Times.
With all the cost-cutting. at least our airline’s management can now pick and choose what they consider as very serious and deserving of an investigation, otherwise, we will need to employ even more of those foreign experts and that would require even more serious investigations. Spin on… Philip.
The MLP activists historically considered Air Malta to be their property, where they can do as they please (same concept existed for Telemalta and Enemalta). Just ask il-Lallu (Charles Butigieg) who employed a lot of diehard Laburisti from Mellieha during the eighties.
This incident is a clear signal that this attitude and mindset is still prevalent.
By the way, did anyone investigate whether the recent power outages were an act of sabotage? It is an open secret that the GWU / MLP have full say of what happens within Enemalta.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it has always been Air Labour.
Just wait till they’re in government.
Below is the answer received from AirMalta following a complaint concerning a party of 23 who arrived at the Air Malta check-in desk a few minutes late, because of coach problems beyond their control, with the plane still on the runway and the stairs to the aircraft still in place.
Air Malta officials in France and Malta had been made aware of the likely delay over two hours before the flight check-in time and despite the assurances they gave that it would be all right, the entire party was left behind – even though the plane took off almost 30 minutes after the party arrived.
“Dear Sir,
We would like to thank you for sparing your time in putting your thoughts in writing.
We wish to emphasise that here at Air Malta, ensuring total customer satisfaction is one of the maxims that guide our mission as a leading service provider in the travel and transportation industry without detracting from the importance of us continually trying to reach the highest possible levels of Customer satisfaction.
With regards to your case, kindly note that every airline is bound with a scheduled time that has to follow in its operations. Flight timings can only be delayed for operational or technical reasons that concern the airline involved. For matters outside the airline’s parameters, the airline cannot even consider to do any delay.
In light of the above, Air Malta is not liable for the loss of your flight as all the agents involved followed the procedure according to our rules and regulations. Moreover, the incident happened had nothing to do with Air Malta and thus we cannot deal with matters outside the airline’s control. Check-in opens two hours prior departure and closes forty-five minutes before as it did in your case.
We apologise for the inconvenience you experienced but we cannot offer any compensation with regards to your query.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Best Regards,
Aaron Fenech | Customer Care Representative”
” I’m thinking it’s going to be a really bad idea to use Air Malta after 2013. We’ll be waiting for Joseph and Michelle, for Jason, for Silvio, for Anglu, for Mr and Mrs Simone Cini, for Mr and Mrs Charlon Gouder, and – why not? – for Judge and Mr Consuelo Herrera and their nice friends Mr and Mrs Carmen Pullicino Orlando. ”
Oh my! I just might forget about the shambles the current administration has created at the national airline and vote them back into power because of this.
Daphne, this very thing happens regularly at Air Malta right now and it has happened for years. I know for a fact that Air Malta planes regularly have to wait for MPs, speakers and MEPs from the PN’s ranks because they didn’t get up early enough to beat the morning traffic, or they simply could not be bothered to board the plane with the rest of the plebs…
At least if you’re going to try scaring people about how bad a Labour government could be, try doing it with stuff their counterparts aren’t already doing.
Mela insejtu kif il-Gozo Channel baqat tistenna c-chairman?