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Rome to play 'active role' to woo Air France back to Alitalia talks
2008-04-10
The Italian government pledged Thursday to take an "active role" in trying to convince Air France-KLM to reopen takeover talks with unions at the country's failing carrier Alitalia. "We are working to make it possible to reach a preliminary accord next week," government under-secretary Enrico Letta told a news conference after a meeting with the unions. The unions will be asked next week to approve new proposals, the government said in a statement, pledging an "active role" in the effort. The new meeting will take place after Italy holds general elections on Sunday and Monday, with a new government to take office in mid-May at the earliest. The outgoing centre-left government intends to midwife the proposals rather than presenting a plan itself, Letta said, contrary to statements attributed to the government in earlier news reports on Thursday. "Air France-KLM wants to wrap up the (Air France chairman Jean-Cyril) Spinetta plan," he added, warning that the French-Dutch group would not return to Rome for "empty negotiations." A "new meeting (between Air France and Alitalia's unions) would be to close the deal," he added. "This second and last chance must become concrete over the next days and far from the toxicity of the electoral campaign that has so damaged the company," Letta told the unions in a speech, the text of which was released by the prime minister's office. The plight of the airline, which is losing about one million euros (1.6 million dollars) a day, has been a central issue in an otherwise lacklustre campaign ahead of the elections. Conservative candidate Silvio Berlusconi has repeatedly insisted that an all-Italian alternative to the Air France-KLM takeover is possible. Alitalia, which is rapidly running out of cash on hand, faces almost certain bankruptcy if the Air France-KLM does not come back to the table. Tense negotiations ended dramatically last week when Spinetta withdrew the airline's offer after the unions asked that Alitalia conserve all of its operations. Alitalia chairman Maurizio Prato resigned in frustration. On Monday, Air France-KLM said its offer for Alitalia was the only one capable of returning the struggling airline to profitable growth and that it was now up to the unions and workers to decide the way forward. The hard-bargaining unions appeared ready to soften their positions this week. As the government met with the unions on Thursday, hundreds of Alitalia workers staged a protest outside parliament in Rome, the ANSA news agency reported. Alitalia's board said it had some 170 million euros in the bank as of the end of March. The outgoing centre-left government of Romano Prodi has been struggling to sell the government's 49.9-percent stake in the loss-making company before the elections.
Italians head to polls as economy falters (2008-04-13)Italy votes as economy stumbles and instability looms (2008-04-13)Rome to play 'active role' to woo Air France back to Alitalia talks (2008-04-10)Alitalia flies into critical week (2008-04-06)Air France-KLM deal to buy Alitalia falls apart (2008-04-02)
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