Alitalia on life support, again!

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Any commetns as to what happens when this money runs out?

BBC Story
Alitalia is on the verge of collapse and needed a loan of 300m euros ($475m) on Tuesday in order to keep operating.


AF-KL seems not to be the answer as they have taken their offer off the table.
Air France suspended talks with the troubled Italian carrier last month after it failed to get the necessary backing from unions for its proposals.

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

The Italian government will keep Alitalia afloat with more cash.

Emergency loan keeps Alitalia in the air
Updated April 23, 2008 9:53:43 AM
Bruce Barnard/The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
LONDON -- Italy’s outgoing government is giving Alitalia a 300 million-euro ($475 million) emergency bridge loan to save the country’s ailing national airline from bankruptcy.

The loan, which breaches European Union rules on state bailouts, is intended to give the incoming center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi breathing space to mount a rescue for the airline, which is losing $1.6 million a day and will run out of cash by the summer.

(the Italian government has the same problem as our BK codes -- they just can't allow an airline to disappear.....)

 

[jimntx]

If management in any U.S. company thinks that unions in this country are a bother, they should try doing business in Italy. Even the managers have a union in Bella Italia!!!!!! (Somehow the term Managers Union seems an oxymoron to me.) Having to deal with wildcat strikes (no soap in the dispenser in the office lav, call a strike) was one of the reasons that Texaco decided to sell Texaco Italia.

Transportation unions seem especially prone to strikes. Sometimes the strikes only last a couple of hours, but they play havoc with airline, train, and bus schedules.

I only traveled on Alitalia one time, and loved it. But, that was a number of years ago. And, we left Rome on time!

The government loan may cause Italy more problems with the EU than the pride of having a national airline is worth. It violates EU rules, and IIRC the Italian government has loaned money to a private enterprise before and been chastised by the EU. They risk expulsion.

 

[whlinder]

I could swear I've heard this same story before... in 2007, 2006, 2005....

 

[jimntx]

As Elvira would say, "Wow! It's like deja vu all over again."