Last chance for Alitalia

A group of Italian investors are holding make-or-break talks with the airline’s unions over its future.

Two hundred Alitalia workers protested outside the Labour Ministry in Rome, the venue for the talks.

Alitalia’s bankruptcy administrator has warned the unions he will terminate worker’s contracts and shut down the loss-making national airline if these talks fail.

This pilot said: “We hope that bankruptcy can be avoided, but we need to have dignity for everyone regardless of what job they do and this should be done in a way that respects everyone’s professionalism.”

The Italian investor group, CAI, wants to take over the airline’s most valuable assets to relaunch it as a smaller enterprise.

The plan includes at least 3,000 job cuts and lower staff salaries and benefits.

The unions’ refusal to accept cut backs led to the collapse of earlier sale talks with Air France-KLM.

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