Who to blame?
You guys blame the unions and the employees.
This sad story is a political one created by Berlusconi.
During the spring he stopped the Air France KLM negociations.
He made foolish promises, pretending the governement would support the unions and the airline. Open your eyes guys, Berlusconi did it.
Have a look below: what happened since? Yes, the Berlusconi election.
Published: March 25, 2008
Air France-KLM has proposed taking on 180 Alitalia pilots over the next three years as part of efforts to sweeten its proposed bid for the ailing Italian airline, union officials said Tuesday night after the latest negotiations on the deal.
Air France-KLM will present a somewhat revised proposal late Thursday or Friday morning, the union officials said just after the six-hour-long meeting ended.
Air France-KLM President Jean-Cyril Spinetta confirmed during a meeting with union officials at Alitalia headquarters outside Rome that the proposal would be made by Friday, said Air France-KLM spokeswoman Veronique Brachet.
The pilots would be absorbed by Air France-KLM, an Italian pilots union official, Massimo Notaro, told Italian state TV. He called that proposal "unsatisfactory."
Other union officials said the new proposal also envisioned Air France-KLM absorbing hangar and some other ground operations at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport in a bid to reduce job cuts.
"A step forward has been made. The negotiation is really underway," another transport union leader, Roberto Panella, was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency Apcom.
"We're waiting for the document that Spinetta has described as friendly," Panella was also quoted as saying.
The new plan would deal with the "social consequences" of Air France-KLM's industrial plan for Alitalia in a way that "no worker would be abandoned and a solution would be designed for each of the 2100 employees concerned," Spinetta pledged in a statement.
Union officials said another meeting would be held either late Friday or Monday to discuss the new proposal.
There was no immediate comment from Alitalia. Its board was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Italian news agencies said.
The Italian government wants to sell its 49.9 percent stake in the loss-making airline.
Alitalia's board has already accepted the Air France-KLM bid, which is valued at €747 million (US$1.1 billion). But unions have opposed it because of planned job cuts, the planned declassification of Milan's Malpensa airport as a hub and because they want a greater say in negotiations.
The deal requires their approval, as well as the approval of Italy's next government.
"We still have to work on technical details" about measures involving Alitalia personnel, Brachet told The Associated Press in Paris, adding that the meeting went well.
The ANSA and Apcom news agencies, quoting union officials, said Spinetta had explained that negotiations would entail distinct agreements with pilots, flight attendants and ground crews. Negotiations would also proceed separately for workers of two Alitalia branches, AZ Service and AZ Fly.
On Monday, Premier Romano Prodi urged unions to assume a "sense of responsibility" by considering the Air France-KLM deal, although he also said the government would be open to other offers. But he stressed that no serious alternative bids had reached the government.
Conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi has insisted other Italian offers are in the works, but he has failed to provide specifics. He has said he would veto the Air France-KLM deal if he wins April 13-14 elections.
On Tuesday, Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi was quoted as saying that Alitalia should open its books to another potential purchaser — Italian carrier Air One SpA — so it can prepare a binding offer for the airline.
Air One had presented a nonbinding offer for Alitalia late last year, but the Italian government chose to enter into exclusive talks instead with Air France-KLM.
But Labor Minister Cesare Damiano urged the unions to think about Alitalia's future going into Tuesday's talks with Air France-KLM, echoing warnings by Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa that the company — which is losing €1 million (nearly $1.6 million) a day — doesn't have a lot of time.
Luigi Angeletti, leader of the UIL union, said union leaders weren't asking for outrageous concessions from Air France-KLM, saying they wanted to discuss details of the acquisition and job losses, trimmed routes and the loss of hub status for Milan's Malpensa airport.
"It seems legitimate that we be able to discuss Air France's abandonment of Malpensa so that it takes place gradually so that other companies can replace these flights," he was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. "We're not asking for the moon."
The Italian government had quickly agreed to the Air France-KLM deal even though its bid valued the company, at the time of the offer, at a far-lower-than-expected €139 million (US$214 million). Air France-KLM would also pay €608 million (US$946.6 million) for convertible shares.
Shares of Alitalia were suspended Tuesday for exceeding Borsa Italiana's allowed 10 percent trading band. When trading resumed briefly Tuesday morning, shares shot up as much as 35.9 percent to €0.47 (US$.72) before being again suspended.
Published: March 25, 2008
Sometimes it' s good to look back the history to understand what happened.