After rejection of the referendum on the pre-agreement on the part of the workers, for Alitalia a long and full of unknowns opens up: it starts from the commissioner and a bridging loan to arrive in the coming months to the sale or, in the worst case, to the liquidation. Let's see what the main points of the matter are, keeping in mind both the travelers' and the employees' point of view.
1) WHAT IS THE RISK OF THOSE WHO ALREADY HAVE A TICKET?
Those who have already purchased a ticket to leave in early May can rest assured, because "the program and the operations of the flights will not undergo changes at the moment", Alitalia informs.
2) AND WHO STILL HAS TO BOOK?
As far as tickets not yet purchased are concerned, at the moment it is impossible to say whether it is risky to book an Alitalia flight, especially if the departure is scheduled from July onwards. At the moment it is still possible to buy tickets on the Alitalia website for flights this summer, but, waiting for the situation to clear up, some foreign companies are inviting their employees not to buy tickets from the Italian airline for future trips.
3) WHAT WILL BECOME MILLEMIGLIA POINTS?
In theory, those who have accumulated a credit with the Alitalia loyalty program could ask to recover it, in whole or in part, if the company declares bankruptcy. But in practice, an initiative of this kind would probably be very complex.
4) HOW DOES THE COMMISSIONER WORK?
Due to the rejection of the referendum, Alitalia can no longer benefit from the expected two billion euro capital increase. Instead, the request for admission to extraordinary administration is triggered: the president of the company, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, has already officially communicated to the president of ENAC the decision of the Board of Directors to start the procedure for the appointment of the commissioner. The board of directors has set the shareholders' meeting for 27 April (in first call) and 2 May (in second call) to deliberate on the matter.
The decree for the appointment of two or three commissioners should arrive at the beginning of May. The government is counting on Luigi Gubitosi or Enrico Laghi as top names, who could be joined by Aristide Police or Stefano Ambrosini.
Basically, the commissioner will have to ensure management balance by cutting routes and flights and seek a solution for the future of the company.
5) WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?
Carlo Calenda, Minister of Economic Development, summarized Alitalia's prospects in these terms: “The extraordinary administration can be concluded within 6 months either with a partial or total sale of Alitalia's assets or with liquidation. If there are companies interested in taking it over, it is too early to say”.
The number one of the Cisl, Annamaria Furlan, instead hopes that the commissioner "is the way for a new credible industrial plan: the closure of Alitalia or its sale in pieces must be avoided in every way, in the interest of the employees, of the related industries and of the whole country system”.
6) IN THE MEANTIME WITH WHAT MONEY DO WE GO AHEAD?
Again Calenda explained that Italy will ask the EU for the go-ahead for "a bridging loan for a period of 6 months, under very precise conditions that we will negotiate". It will be a "transitional financial bridge" and not "a nationalization or five years of extraordinary administration", continued the minister. The value of the operation should be between 3-400 million euros.
7) IS A NEW PUBLIC RESCUE POSSIBLE?
No. The path of nationalization has been categorically rejected several times by various members of the government. However, the costs for the State will not be equal to zero: the simple recourse to the ordinary redundancy fund for Alitalia workers would cost the public coffers around one billion euros.
“On the question of Alitalia we must tell the truth – reaffirmed yesterday the Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni – there are no conditions for nationalisation. However, the Government feels committed to defending workers, users, taxpayers and citizens so as not to waste the company's resources and assets. We will work on it knowing however that the outcome of the referendum makes the challenge more difficult. For my part, there was disappointment that the opportunity for an agreement between companies and trade unions had not been seized. I cannot silence the concern for what is happening ”.
8) WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES FOR THE COMPETITION?
Ryanair and the other low cost airlines could take advantage of the slots that Alitalia's commissioner management should give up. Meanwhile, among the possible buyers of the Italian carrier is the name of the German Lufthansa, which however at this point has every interest in waiting for Alitalia to be downsized. As indeed it has already done with the Swiss Swiss and the Belgian Brussels Airlines.
