Decisive days to close theagreement with the EU on newco Ita and allow the new Alitalia to take the flight to coincide with the start of the summer season. The commissioners next Tuesday Giuseppe Leogrande, Daniele Santosuosso and Gabriele Fava will be heard by Productive Activities and Transportation commissions of the House to take stock of the situation. In recent days, the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti he said that “with the special commissioners a reflection on alternative plans if the current negotiations go wrong. “
These days the work is proceeding with the technical tables to find the square and then get the green light politico at take off of Ita. Friday the premier Mario Draghi replied at a press conference on Alitalia reiterating that in the future it will have to support itself. “The debt is good only if a reform of the society is made, which will then go away forward with its own wings and will not have to be continually subsidized as it has been in recent years. It needs to be autonomous and support itself “, he stressed. The Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility Enrico Giovannini he explained that the negotiations with the EU are tough but there is none impasse. The negotiations with Brussels on Alitalia “continue, yesterday and today, we are not in the least impasse”.
“We are negotiating very hard – explained Giovannini – because it is a strong company that is able to stay on the market, to make subsequent alliances but from a position of strength”. The minister stressed the importance of integrating air and rail transport. On a possible passage of Alitalia workers to the FS, Giovannini said that “the interpretation that the problem is simply to smuggle, really disrespectful words towards workers from one company to another, is not correct“.
“What is happening, also in other countries, I am thinking of Germany – he specified – is strong integration between air transport and rail services. This integration is not a welfare motivation but it is one of the pieces of the future of aviation. So that interpretation I must say is definitely incorrect“.
Meanwhile, they come from Brussels return to the sender, on all trade unions and many parliamentary forces, the accusations of unequal treatment between Alitalia and the big Europeans such as Air France and Lufthansa. “Alitalia was at a constant loss and was in difficulty before December 31, 2019” for this reason “its case is different from Air France” and for this reason “it is not eligible to receive the aid provided for by the temporary state aid framework, including recapitalization measures “, underlined a spokeswoman for the European Commission.
The tug-of-war concerns in particular the number of slot of Linate (for which the EU asks for a cut of 50%), the number of aircraft (on which that of employees also depends), the brand and name. In this regard, Giovannini again, in recent days, specified that “the Government considers the brand as an important element of the negotiation”. For his part, Giorgetti assured that either there will be a reasonable compromise with the EU or “the government will not accept” an agreement. At the same time, he added, “the rule that allows the State to restore the company must be interpreted in a reasonable way because those who work must have a salary”.