Italian flight unions are pressing the country’s government to establish firm conditions which will enable a relaunch of Alitalia, after the latest bid deadline for the troubled flag carrier passed.
Italian flight unions are pressing the country’s government to establish firm conditions which will enable a relaunch of Alitalia, after the latest bid deadline for the troubled flag carrier passed.
Rail firm FS Italiane and Rome airport shareholder Atlantia had already declared, ahead of the 21 November deadline, that a proposed consortium to acquire the airline was unlikely to emerge.
National air transport federation FNTA – a collective of three Italian pilot and cabin crew unions – says that FS Italiane and Atlantia believe offers from prospective consortium partners are not sufficient to enable it to make a binding offer.
The federation says an industrial solution for Alitalia is “urgent” and that the government, at its highest level, should supply conditions which would “guarantee” such a solution, one which is “solid and continuous” and allows a “definitive relaunch” of the airline.
Several other unions – including FILT-CGIL, FIT-CISL, Uiltrasporti and UGL – are demanding that the government “put an end to the stalemate” between the potential shareholders of the FS Italiane-led consortium.
The unions jointly state that they are not prepared to keep watching the “sad ballet” of deadlines and extensions resulting from the inability of those overseeing the process to find a solution.
“This endless wait severely damages Alitalia and risks undermining its survival and chances of recovery,” they add.
Alitalia’s commissioners should take new measures to reduce costs and avoid the risk of the airline’s fleet being cut back, as a result of aircraft being withdrawn with no plans for replacement.
Unions are threatening to strike on 13 December, for 24h, to protest the “slow agony” and urge the government to “do what is necessary” to establish a proper recovery plan for Alitalia, relaunch the airline, and reform the air transport sector to regulate competition.
Industrial action on that date, they add, will “inevitably” be followed by further measures to uphold the interests of personnel if no convincing solution emerges.
