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.