A bid of about 400m has been made for the rump of the chronically loss making Italian carrier Alitalia.
The offer has come from a group of Italian investors which includes Carlo Toto, owner of the rival carrier Air One.
Under the deal, the unprofitable parts of Alitalia would be liquidated while the rest would be merged with Air One into a new airline.
About 5,000 jobs would be lost and Italian taxpayers faced with a bill of around 2bn to wind up the carrier and pay off its substantial debts.
Alitalia's directors put the carrier into receivership last Friday (August 29). Its indebtedness at the end of July was 1,172m.
Details of the "rescue" plan emerged as Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's centre right prime minister, was due to meet trade unions leaders at the airline.
A plan in which Air France KLM would have taken over the carrier was scuppered when Mr Berlusconi made keeping the airline in Italian hands part of his successful general election campaign in the spring.
Air France KLM subsequently withdrew in the face of union opposition.
The consortium now bidding to buy part of the carrier includes Roberto Colaninno, chairman of the scooter company Piaggio, Intesa Sanpaola, an Italian bank, and a company controlled by the Benetton family.
Mr Colaninno is said to be the likely chairman of the new airline while Rocco Sabelli would be the managing director.
Air France KLM has already indicated it would be willing to take a minority stake in the new airline.
Reports in Italian newspapers suggest that Lufthansa might also be interested in a stake while BA was reported to be "watching" developments.
Mr Colaninno was quoted in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica as saying both Air France KLM and Lufthansa were interested.
"We are dealing with both of them, and they are running at the same speed. One of the two will do, it's indispensable," he said.
But one of the investors, ship owner Gianluigi Aponte ahs already said it would be a "fundamental error" to let rival carriers take a stake in the restructured Alitalia.
He said he was personally against either of the carriers acquiring a stake.
* see BTE Analysis