All unions accept Alitalia restructuring deal

After a lengthy saga with numerous twists and turns, all Italian labour unions have finally signed onto a deal that would sell the country’s bankrupt flag carrier, Alitalia, to a consortium of Italian investors. Labour representatives signed onto the deal today, after hesitating for weeks and after helping to kill an Air France-KLM bid presented this past spring to buy the troubled airline. According to a report in The Guardian, the unions’ endorsement was “grudging,” which comes as no surprise considering that fact that this agreement has now opened the way for more than 3,000 job cuts in the very near future. Silvio Berlusconi’s government-whose reputation was on the line as Alitalia appeared headed towards collapse-repeatedly noted that a few thousand job cuts were better than nearly 20,000 unemployed Alitalia workers, who would have been sent packing if the airline went under.

Now that unions representing reticent pilots and flight attendants have agreed to the rescue package, the carrier’s new owners-all of whom are part of the Italian Air Transport Corporation (CAI) , will have until November 1^st to re-launch the carrier as a smaller, more modest company. The new owners of the Italian state’s 49.9 percent stake in the carrier will also have to reach an agreement with a major European carrier in order to sell them a minority stake in the airline. It appears as though Lufthansa has the best chance of becoming a minority stakeholder in the new Alitalia, after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi clearly indicated that the German national airline would be his preference.

Thank you to John Hooper of The Guardian for the initial report.

www.alitalia.com