Would Etihad be about to greet Alitalia and Italy? This could be the key to understanding the interview released by the managing director of the airline, the Australian James Hogan, to Corriere della Sera a few days ago. Hogan was only argumentative with union organizations, which are hindering the company's relaunch plan, but also and above all with the Renzi government, guilty according to the manager of not having respected some commitments made two years ago, that is, when the Abu Dhabi company had become the first shareholder of Alitalia (49% ) with an investment of 1,7 billion, saving the former Italian flag carrier from bankruptcy.
On that occasion, recalled Hogan, the government had undertaken to issue a decree which should have allowed flights from Linate to non-European destinations as well, and also to invest 20 million a year to give visibility to Italy as a tourist destination. Was none of this done? According to the Italian government, the opposite is true. In fact, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Graziano Delrio, replied to Hogan's criticisms on behalf of the executive: “The government has respected all its commitments with Alitalia – said Delrio -. The Italian authorities have worked to guarantee the most suitable development conditions”. Among the interventions, the three-year extension of the fund for the absorption of redundancies; the deduction on the boarding allowance for passengers from domestic airports and the deduction on the allowances of the flight crew. Regarding the Lupi decree on the liberalization of routes at the Linate airport, the ministry continues, “the EU Commission has requested to notify a new decree, failing which an infringement procedure would have been initiated. The notification is in the process of being concluded". As for investments in tourism, Delrio stresses that "no government has ever invested as many resources as this one".
So what problem torments Hogan? In reality, some observers point out, the Australian manager is experiencing a moment of internal turbulence, not only due to the corporate extremism of some union organizations: the Australian manager had predicted an (unrealistic) return to profit for Alitalia in 2017 and in Germany the Air Berlin company was forced to halve its fleet by leasing it to its historic enemy Lufthansa to now try a new way of collaborating with Tui, world leader in travel organisation.
