Italian PM rules out nationalisation of Alitalia

Rome April 27 (IANS/AKI) Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday that Italy s failing flagship carrier Alitalia cannot be nationalised after workers rejected a restructuring plan to keep the airline in business.

Alitalia needs to be competitive....it cannot be nationalised Gentiloni told journalists adding that he was disappointed that Alitalia s 12 000 workers had voted against the turnaround plan involving job and salary cuts that would have unlocked 2 billion euros of investments for the company.

But the government will not squander the airline s assets and human resources Gentiloni vowed.

Alitalia will receive a government bridging loan of 300-400 million euros to keep it operational while a new owner is sought Italy s economic development minister Carlo Calenda told Radio 24 on Wednesday.

The workers anger won out the Fit-Cisl union s general secretary Antonio Piras said on Monday after two-thirds of Alitalia workers rejected the last-ditch plan that had been agreed with unions.

The government-brokered turnaround plan was agreed last week after marathon talks in which Alitalia s management and unions agreed to lay off around 1 700 ground staff and cut pilot and cabin crew wages by 8 per cent.

Alitalia had warned that backing by its workforce was essential to obtain fresh funds from its shareholders including Dubai-based Etihad Airways which owns 49 per cent of the airline and Italy s top two banks Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.

The carrier said in March that it aimed to return to profit in 2019 by cutting 1 billion euros in costs over three years revamping its business model and investing more in long-haul routes.

Long-haul routes are crucial to the airline s survival in the face of competition from low-cost airlines and high-speed rail services according to analysts.

Alitalia was privatised in 2009 and has gone through several restructurings. It has made an annual profit only a few times in its 70-year history and has received four billion euros in bailouts by successive Italian governments and private investors.

--IANS/AKI
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