Effortless Efficiency: Air Malta applauds EFOS Leave

About Air Malta

Air Malta carries two million passengers every year and flies to around 35 scheduled destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. The airline also carries a sizeable amount of cargo and is responsible for transporting mail to and from the islands.

The Challenge

Air Malta was struggling with a leave management process that was highly complex and labour intensive because it was reliant on spreadsheets. Each leave request had to be processed manually, which meant pilots and cabin crew were forced to wait a long time to get confirmation of their leave. This was frustrating for the team. The process also wasn’t very transparent.

The Solution

Keen to move away from this inefficient and outdated manual system, Air Malta chose to digitise its leave management process with Evoke’s EFOS Leave.

A customised, streamlined process

Thanks to the flexibility of EFOS Leave, we were able to replicate the airline’s custom validation rules in the new digital platform. This made the transition smoother, as these rules were already accepted by both union representatives and crew members. Air Malta uses a points-based system for prioritising leave.

The carrier now relies on EFOS Leave for both prioritised and immediate bidding, with custom rolling cut-off dates, which has significantly reduced administration for the Operations team. Caroline Zammit, Crew Planning and Pre-Ops Executive at Air Malta, explained the key benefit:

“Previously, leave management was highly laborious and exposed to human errors when updating various excel spreadsheets continuously. EFOS Leave signed an end to this laborious task…[it] helped us create an enhanced procedure which has eased out the entire process.”

An improved user experience

One of Air Malta’s key aims for this project, was to make the whole process of booking leave quicker and easier for crew. This has been achieved, thanks to the convenience, ease-of-use, and transparency of the EFOS Leave system.

The software is accessible through any connected device, and has an intuitive user interface. It gives immediate feedback on whether a leave request is successful or not, so people know where they stand sooner. Crew members can clearly see their bookings, requests, allowances, history and points. They also have a clear understanding of how their decisions will affect future leave periods. Caroline described the impact this has had:

“Employees have a user-friendly access, giving them an effortless way to book vacation leave and a clear breakdown of their vacation leave balance. EFOS Leave works fairly and gives transparency to each process and this has put an end to related staff enquiries. Updates are now instant, and balances always correct.”

Integration with the crew management system

We also built a custom integration with Air Malta’s crew management system, Raido, to improve productivity further. This means EFOS Leave automatically receives the most up-to-date vacation allowance totals for staff, without the need for manual inputting. This saves time and improves data accuracy.

A smooth, fast implementation

Air Malta wanted the system to go-live at the start of the new leave year. This only gave us a few months for implementation, but we met the deadline by working closely with the airline’s project team from day one. We built a detailed understanding of the team’s requirements, mapped out the required system configuration and created a project plan that would ensure delivery on time. Air Malta praised us for the implementation:

“The project was delivered very swiftly, enabling Air Malta’s team to quickly realise the benefits of the new software,” said Caroline Zammit. “The team at Evoke were committed and totally onboard for this project. The system was easy to understand, and help was always found along the project.”

Learn more about EFOS Leave

EFOS Leave is a powerful, cloud-based vacation management tool designed specifically for airlines. It enables your crew to request leave easily through a fast, fair and transparent process, and reduces the admin for those managing leave requests. The result is happier, more efficient teams.  Find out more about EFOS Leave and what it can do for your airline.

Product implemented

Before EFOS

Air Malta was struggling with a leave management process that was highly complex and labour intensive. Each leave request had to be processed manually, which meant pilots and cabin crew were forced to wait a long time to get confirmation of their leave.

 

After EFOS

EFOS Leave replicated the airline’s custom validation rules in the new digital platform. This made the transition smoother, as these rules were already accepted by both union representatives and crew members.

 

What they said

“The project was delivered very swiftly, enabling Air Malta’s team to quickly realise the benefits of the new software. The team at Evoke were committed and totally onboard for this project. The system was easy to understand, and help was always found along the project.”
Caroline Zammit