The clash between Alfredo Altavilla and the members of the board of directors of Ita airways ends in court, who revoked the powers (including the one on the sale of Ita to the US Certares fund) to the executive president of the state-controlled airline to attribute them to the CEO Fabio Maria Lazzerini. Altavilla, through a law firm, presented a deed to the Court of Rome in which he denounced the illegality of the decision.
The revocation decided on 12 October by the Board of Directors
The earthquake at the top of Ita had occurred in two phases. On 12 October the Board of Directors removed all operational powers from Altavilla to assign them to the CEO Fabio Lazzerini. The six outgoing directors of the company’s board of directors voted for the motion, out of nine, with the support of Lazzerini: Lelio Fornabaio, Simonetta Giordani, Angelo Piazza, Silvio Martuccelli, Cristina Girelli, Alessandra Fratini. All had resigned last March and all are an expression of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (sole shareholder of the newco).
The board of Ita had met to approve the accounts for the semester, but the six resigning directors with an email had asked to integrate the agenda of the board of directors to review, among other things, “the structure of the proxies”, in in particular that on strategic transactions and alliances, and therefore on the sale of Ita to the USA Certares fund, in commercial partnership with Delta and Air France. A decision deemed legitimate and immediately operational by the Treasury itself. The resolution was then “fully” confirmed at a meeting of the Board of Directors on 20 October.
The criticisms of the president
Altavilla is accused by the six directors of having managed the privatization operation of Ita without involving the corporate bodies. The tension was fueled by news of an exchange of letters between the Mef and the executive president of Ita. The shareholder asked that all members of the consortium led by Certares have access to the data room with the most sensitive information such as the profitability of the routes. Altavilla replied that the company’s virtual room had not been opened to Delta and Air France because they were competitors of Ita and because at the end of September they still did not have their own advisor. The six councilors would have been kept in the dark about all this dynamics of the negotiation.