Bankrupt airline Alitalia has warned its unions that the carrier will be grounded unless they agree to new contracts from prospective buyers.
The warning came in a statement from the carrier after its bankruptcy commissioner Augusto Fantozzi met with representatives from trades unions and professional associations yesterday.
At the meeting, Mr Fantozzi said he was ”taking steps to terminate all the collective contracts and existing agreement” which are currently in place.
This would likely lead to the grounding and ultimate liquidation of Alitalia.
The warning comes as the union are due today to meet the prospective buyers, Compagnia Aerea Italiana, a consortium of 16 investors.
Initial talks between the two sides broke down earlier this week.
The prospective buyers, who have already put in a bid for the loss making carrier, have said they want the talks successfully concluded today.
Under the rescue plan, the Italian government would sell its 49.9% stake to the consortium, which would buy Alitalia”s profitable operations and merge them with a rival airline Air One to form a new airline.
The unprofitable parts would be liquidated and could cost the Italian taxpayer ”2bn.
Visit www.alitalia.com.
Stanley Slaughter
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