Alitalia again short of liquidity just as negotiations with the European Union to create a new national carrier are at a standstill. The flag carrier, in receivership since 2017, paid its 11,000 workers only half of their March wages.
The pandemic dealt the final blow to Alitalia which for years has been kept afloat by more than 5 billion euros (5.9 billion dollars) of public money. Yet the government’s plan to create a new, smaller carrier from Alitalia’s ashes has met with opposition from the European Union, which requires a clear separation between the assets and personnel of the failed airline and the newco that would like to take off, ITA .
“A new strategy” is necessary “in light of the stalemate in negotiations with the EU”, said the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti. As Bloomberg writes, Italy needs a carrier to support its role in the global economy, including a tourism industry that accounts for 13% of gross domestic product. It may already be too late for the new company to take off in time for the summer season. Prime Minister Mario Draghi asked Giorgetti, together with Finance Minister Daniele Franco and Transport Minister Enrico Giovannini, to manage the talks with Vestager. But three or three meetings in the last few weeks have not produced any progress.
The nodes to be solved concern the slots that must be sold, including those of Linate (from 70% to 35% of the total), the fact that Ita will not be able to have the majority of handling and maintenance services after an open tender and the need to modify the brand (it cannot be the same as that of Alitalia) and of not being able to transfer the Millemiglia program to the new company.
Alitalia again short of liquidity just as negotiations with the European Union to create a new national carrier are at a standstill. The flag carrier, in receivership since 2017, paid its 11,000 workers only half of their March wages.
The pandemic dealt the final blow to Alitalia which for years has been kept afloat by more than 5 billion euros (5.9 billion dollars) of public money. Yet the government’s plan to create a new, smaller carrier from Alitalia’s ashes has met with opposition from the European Union, which requires a clear separation between the assets and personnel of the failed airline and the newco that would like to take off, ITA .
“A new strategy” is necessary “in light of the stalemate in negotiations with the EU”, said the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti. As Bloomberg writes, Italy needs a carrier to support its role in the global economy, including a tourism industry that accounts for 13% of gross domestic product. It may already be too late for the new company to take off in time for the summer season. Prime Minister Mario Draghi asked Giorgetti, together with Finance Minister Daniele Franco and Transport Minister Enrico Giovannini, to manage the talks with Vestager. But three or three meetings in the last few weeks have not produced any progress.
The nodes to be solved concern the slots that must be sold, including those of Linate (from 70% to 35% of the total), the fact that Ita will not be able to have the majority of handling and maintenance services after an open tender and the need to modify the brand (it cannot be the same as that of Alitalia) and of not being able to transfer the Millemiglia program to the new company.