Alitalia cancels 44 flights
22/01/2006 15:10 PM
Rome - Alitalia cancelled 44 flights on Sunday because of continued labour unrest, the second day in a row Italy's struggling national carrier has had to scrap flights because of wildcat walkouts.
Italy's main unions, meanwhile, met at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport to discuss whether to proceed with a threatened full-day strike starting on Monday - the second in a week.
Italian news agencies ANSA and Apcom said the walkout was cancelled pending the outcome of a meeting with the government scheduled for Wednesday.
Alitalia said in a statement that as of Sunday morning it had to cancel 44 out of 130 flights scheduled across its network for Sunday, saying "illegal union initiatives" were to blame. On Saturday it scrapped 66 flights.
Ground crews, including baggage handlers and airplane maintenance workers, had refused to work on Saturday and ground crews were continuing to cause the problems, Alitalia said.
Union officials have said the protests stemmed from a breakdown in negotiations with the government.
Workers are protesting restructuring plans at the loss-making airline, which have included cutting jobs and spinning off the airline's flight unit from its less profitable ground services business.
On Thursday, Alitalia's employees went on a one-day strike.
http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/defa...8-1783_1867314