Three months after the elections, when Berlusconi aroused the traded unions into rejecting Air France's plan and promised a quick solution, the Alitalia saga still looks neverending. The ailing state-controlled air company, after long and overdue negotiations, was about to be sold to the French. Staff cuts were necessary, as Alitalia was (is) virtually bankrupt, and the deal looked reasonable to most observers.Then Berlusconi, eager to win a third stint in goverment and eyeing a potential electoral coup-de-theatre, upset the table. He knew personally a group of businessmen willing to save Alitalia, and that would be a priority for his government. Alitalia's trade unionists, widely despised by Italians for being out of touch with reality and defending absurd privileges, upped the ante. And AirFrance left the table.
A hundred days later, Alitalia is barely surviving only thanks to a 300 million state loan, highly frowned upon by the EU. The company has cut flights but also lost passengers, and is losing over 1 million euros a day, more than it used to lose daily when a deal with AirFrance was still possible. Berlusconi is still promising to save the "italianity" of the company, but is now warning that some staff cuts will be necessary. Thanks for informing us: it would be bizarre if the new "saviours" cut more staff than AirFrance intended to do. Meanwhile, counting only the last three months, Alitalia cost every Italian more than 5 euros. God knows how much more during the years. And I don't know a single person who actually cares about the "italianity" of Alitalia. Cheaper flights and a better service would be more important.
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