Air Italy, Italy's second largest airline, goes into liquidation. The decision was taken during the meeting attended by Alisarda, owner of 51% of the capital, and Qatar Airways, in possession of the remaining 49 percent.
“The shareholders of Air Italy, Alisarda and Qatar Airways through AQA Holding, due to the persistent and structurally difficult conditions of the market have unanimously decided to put the company Air Italy into liquidation In bonis”, reads the joint note sent by the two companies.
There was also a recovery plan on the table which planned to allocate 340 million euros to save the company, but the parties would not have been able to find an agreement.
Instead, the two partners agreed to ground the planes "due to the persistent and structural conditions of difficulty". According to forecasts, flights scheduled from 12 to 25 February will be carried out at the same times and on the same days by other companies, while travelers who have booked tickets for departing flights from 26 February they will be re-protected or refunded.
The news had been in the air since the morning of 11 February when the unions sent an informal communication to the Ministry of Transport, informing it of the risk that Air Italy (formerly Meridiana) could soon take the books to court. For the moment no indication has been provided on the future gods 1.200 company employees who work between Olbia, where the company has been based since 1963 albeit with various rearrangements, and Milan Malpensa, the strategic operational base for the company's international aims. Creditors and suppliers should be repaid.
"The decision to liquidate a company of this size without first informing the Government is not acceptable and without seriously evaluating any alternatives, therefore I expect Air Italy to suspend the deliberation until the meeting which we can already schedule starting in the next few hours". These are the unheard words spoken this morning by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Paola De Micheli, before the shareholders' meeting.
Air Italy closed 2018 with a loss of 164 million euros, while in 2019 the company would have recorded a loss of more than 200 million euros. The company lost 60% of its revenues, more than Alitalia.
Following the news the trade unions have called a 24-hour national strike for 25 February. The protest will involve all the employees of the air transport companies.
“For too long now, the trade union organizations have been asking unheard for a ministerial working table and a control room that has the purpose of rewriting the rules of the sector. In fact, we believe and have repeatedly supported it in every institutional moment of confrontation that the main and unavoidable objective is to put an end to the causes and effects of industrial and contractual dumping actions which have generated unacceptable competitive asymmetries”. They explain in a note Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti and Ugl Air transport.
