Alitalia at the decisive crossroads. Today at 15 pm the board of directors of the national airline will meet at the headquarters of Fiumicino airport to take stock of the negotiations with Etihad, which has reached a very critical phase. Last week the Dubai company clarified, through a letter, that, in order to continue the negotiations, it requires precise guarantees on the reduction of personnel (there is talk of 3.000 redundancies), on the renegotiation of the debt (a cut of 400 million is assumed), and on the regulatory reorganization with the liberalization of the Linate airport and the reduction of space for low-cost airlines. It remains to be seen whether the answers provided by Alitalia's top management to Etihad are considered sufficient.
Today the board is expected to examine a further response from Etihad. Despite the harsh conditions, the Dubai company's offer appears to be the only chance to give Alitalia a future. The main stumbling block, in any case, remains that of the management of redundancies.
