Department: Flight Operations

Reports to: Director of Flight Operations (DFO)

Role Type: Management – full-time; combined management and line flying post

Location: Malta

Salary: Industry Standard Salary,

Role Purpose

The Pilot Manager holds line management accountability for the pilot community and acts as a deputy to the Director of Flight Operations. The role exists to ensure the company has the right number of pilots, correctly qualified, current and performing to a consistent standard, and that pilot conduct, competence and welfare are managed to the standard the operation and the regulator require.

Organisational Context

• Reports to the Director of Flight Operations and in conjunction with the Flight Operations manager deputises for that post during planned and unplanned absence.
• Line management responsibility for the pilot establishment
• Works alongside the Flight Operations Manager, the Head of Training and the Cabin Crew Manager as the flight operations leadership team.
• Key internal relationships: Director of Flight Operations, Head of Training, Deputy Head of Training, Flight Operations Manager, Flight Safety Officer, Crew Planning and Rostering, People and Finance.
• Key external relationships: Pilot recruitment and resourcing partners, training organisations, pilot representative bodies.
• Budgetary responsibility: pilot recruitment, allowances and pilot-related operating costs.
• Decision-making authority: may remove a pilot from line duty on fitness, currency or competence grounds; recommends and chairs formal capability and disciplinary processes for pilots; approves establishment and recruitment proposals for the Director of Flight Operations’ endorsement; may not vary an approved procedure or manual without the accountable post holder’s approval.

Key Responsibilities

Deputy Duties and Departmental Leadership

• In Conjuction with the Flight Operations Manager Deputise for the Director of Flight Operations during absence, exercising the accountabilities delegated in writing for that period
• Represent Flight Operations at the Safety Action Group and, when required, the Safety Review Board.
• Contribute to flight operations strategy, fleet planning and network feasibility from a crewing and competence perspective.
• Provide cross-departmental coordination on matters affecting pilots, including engineering, ground operations and commercial changes.

Pilot Standards, Competence and Currency

• Conjunction with the Head of Training, deputy Head of Training, own the standard of pilot operating discipline, procedural compliance and professional conduct across the fleet.
• Monitor licence, medical, recency and type qualification validity for every pilot, and act before an expiry affects availability.
• Work with the Head of Training on the management of pilots identified through training, checking or flight data monitoring as requiring additional support.
• Ensure remedial and additional training is fair, proportionate, documented and effective.

Pilot Resourcing, Establishment and Rostering

• Determine and maintain the pilot establishment required to deliver the published schedule, including training footprint and attrition assumptions.
• Own pilot recruitment and selection, including assessment design, selection panels and offer recommendations.
• Manage command upgrade planning, seat and fleet allocation, and base assignment on transparent and documented criteria.
• Work with Crew Planning to ensure rosters are compliant with the operator’s approved flight time limitation scheme under EASA Regulation and are sustainable in practice.
• Manage pilot absence, availability and fatigue-related unavailability, and address root causes.

Performance Management and Employee Relations

• Conduct performance, capability and conduct processes for pilots in accordance with company procedure and the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.
• Ensure pay, progression and allowance decisions for pilots are made against documented, objective criteria, as required by the Equal Pay (Transparency and Reporting) Regulations, 2026 (L.N. 173 of 2026).
• Apply the separate working time regime for mobile staff in civil aviation, derived from Directive 2000/79/EC, rather than the general working time rules.

Safety Management and Just Culture

• Promote and protect Just Culture, and ensure the boundary between an honest error and unacceptable behaviour is understood and applied consistently.
• Ensure pilot occurrence reports are raised, under EASA Regulation and the operator’s safety management system.
• Own and close safety actions allocated to the pilot management function.

Documentation, Procedures and Communication

• Contribute to and review the flight crew content of the Operations Manual, and initiate amendments through the approved process.
• Issue operational notices and briefing material to pilots, and verify they have been read and understood where the content is safety-significant.
• Maintain effective two-way communication with the pilot community, including structured feedback routes.

Line Flying

• Maintain personal line currency and operate as a flight crew member on the fleet
• Set the operating standard through personal example on the line.

Qualifications, Experience and Attributes

Regulatory Prerequisites

• Valid Part-FCL Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL(A)) issued under EASA Regulations, with a current type rating on the operator’s fleet or the ability to obtain
• Valid Part-MED Class 1 medical certificate.
• Current recency, recurrent training and operator proficiency checks in accordance with EASA Regulation.
• Language proficiency endorsement at ICAO Level 5 or above.
• Right to work in Malta, sponsorship provided for the right candidate.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Substantial commercial air transport experience in command
• Demonstrable management or post-holder experience within a flight operations department.
• Working knowledge of EASA Regulation FTL, and of an operator’s Operations Manual structure.
• Experience of managing pilot performance, competence or conduct matters.
• Experience of operating within a safety management system.

Desirable

• Type Rating Instructor or Type Rating Examiner qualification.
• Experience of crew planning, rostering or fatigue risk management.
• Formal management qualification, or aviation safety or human factors qualification.
• Working knowledge of Maltese employment law.

Skills and Competencies

Essential

• Sound operational and safety judgement under time pressure.
• Ability to hold a standard with peers and with senior colleagues.
• Analytical capability with crewing, training and safety data.
• Clear written English sufficient to author procedures, notices and case documentation.
• Effective at difficult conversations and at documenting them properly.

Desirable

• Familiarity with crew management and training records systems.
• Budget planning and cost control experience.
• Maltese language ability.

Behavioural Attributes

• Demonstrates integrity and consistency; applies the same standard to self as to others.
• Approachable and credible with the pilot community.
• Fair and evidence-led in individual case decisions.
• Collaborative across departments rather than protective of the function.
• Open to challenge and willing to change a position when the evidence requires it.

Working Conditions and Requirements

• Malta-based, combining office duties with rostered line flying.
• Flying duty is subject to the operator’s approved flight time limitation scheme under EASA Regulation and to the working time regime for mobile staff in civil aviation derived from Directive 2000/79/EC. Management duties must be planned so that they do not compromise pre-duty rest.
• The operation runs continuously; the role carries out-of-hours contactability and periodic weekend and public holiday cover
• Travel for recruitment, training, audits and industry meetings is required.
• Airport identification card and the associated background check are required.