The Italian government held emergency talks with unions and investors yesterday over a plan to save Alitalia, as the bankrupt airline risks having to ground flights for lack of fuel.
The rescue plan would have investors buying profitable assets and investing 1 billion euros (US$1.4 billion). But the plan also envisages wage cuts and layoffs opposed by the unions.
The government began mediating when direct talks broke down on Friday, after the investors failed to win the unions’ crucial support. But the investors said their offer remained on the table.
The labor and transport ministers met yesterday with representatives of flight attendants and pilots, who have been the most critical of the rescue plan. The talks had started on Saturday but ended late at night with no resolution.
Among the sticking points in the talks are new contracts, salary cuts and layoffs that might run to 5,000 of the airline’s 20,000-strong work force.
Reaching an agreement “depends a lot on what we’ll be able to do today, and on the realism and flexibility that everyone will have: the government, the company and the unions,” Raffaele Bonanni of the CISL national labor confederation said.
Alitalia’s bankruptcy administrator warned on Saturday that time was running out for saving the airline, saying lack of fuel supplies and other problems might force the airline to ground some flights.
Administrator Augusto Fantozzi also said he would start procedures to lay off a number of Alitalia workers and enroll them on welfare.
Alitalia also risks losing its license to operate “if a solution is not found soon that guarantees the continuing of the carrier’s operations,” said the civil aviation agency.
The newspaper Corriere della Sera said yesterday that the investors might offer an additional 100 million euros to minimize the wage cuts and overcome the unions’ opposition.
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