These are decisive hours for the future of Alitalia: either an agreement is finally reached with the Arabs of Etihad or everything is blown up and 12 workers of the airline end up on the streets while the azinists collect very significant losses.
There are two knots to solve: firstly there is the trade union one. Without a clear yes from the unions to the agreement, disaster will ensue and it is for this reason that shareholders like the Renzi government hope that the unions will save Alitalia in extremis by accepting the undoubted salary and employment sacrifices that the agreement with the Arabs requires : but the refusal would be disastrous and much more painful.
The second knot to solve concerns the placement of Poste Italiane in the capital increase and in the future shareholding structure, Francesco Caio, the new number one of the Post Office, is located between Scillie Cariddi: he wants to lend a hand to the take-off of the new Alitalia and is ready to invest up to 70 million but cannot make discounts because it is on the eve of the Poste Italiane IPO and knows that the market does not tolerate mess. In other words Caio is ready to invest in the new Alitalia but not to cover previous losses. A position which, however, annoys the bank partners (Intesa and Unicredit) who are forced to deal with the disastrous legacy of the company's recent past.
Perhaps the squaring of the circle will come from the establishment of a buffer company made up of the old partners of Cai and Poste which in turn will invest in the newco with Etihad. But the confrontation, both with the unions and with the Post Office, takes place on a razor's edge and the next few hours will be crucial.
