Italy's flag carrier, Alitalia, will reportedly re-launch with a much smaller fleet of planes with the company completely being under government control. Reports citing claims from workers' unions revealed that the Italian government is planning to take control of the troubled airline in a month or so.
The unions claimed that the industry ministry was the one that told them earlier in the week that Alitalia was going to be launched with just 25 to 30 aircraft. This represents just a quarter of the company's fleet before the spread of the coronavirus outbreak and its eventual collapse.
One of the sources mentioned that the smaller fleet will be the starting point of the new government-controlled company. However, some concerns were raised regarding whether or not the government would expand operations once the crisis is over. This raises further questions on who of the company's 11,000 employees will still have a job once the airlines resume operations.
All of the government's plans are expected to be detailed at the upcoming meeting between the industry, labor, and transport ministries and the worker's unions at the end of this month. Several unions, including CGIL and FILT, stated in separate statements that they hope that the country would consider expanding Alitalia's operations and increase its flights once the crisis is over.
The unions added that the government should make it their priority to protect the jobs of the airline's employees. As of the moment, Alitalia is only operating at around 25 percent of its capacity, which roughly translates to about 100 flights a day.
Due to its continued losses and complaints from labor unions, the Italian government approved a decree last week that would grant it the power to place the airline under state control. The legislation also outlined a 500 million euro-budget to support the country's airline sector, most of which will likely be going to resuscitating Alitalia.
Since it was placed under private management more than 11 years ago, Alitalia has been bombarded with a slew of challenges that have resulted in it reporting massive losses. The airline was at one point burning through more than 300 million euros per year, eventually forcing the government to intervene.
In May 2017, the government placed state-appointed administrators to run the company while it looked for potential buyers to take over the company and restructure its business. The Italian government's plans were unfortunately derailed with the arrival of the global health crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus strain.
