alitalia to reorganise, sack 5000

This is my summary taking bits and pieces from an article at Bloomberg.com. Read the full article here.

Alitalia SpA plans to cut 5,000 jobs, split Italy’s largest carrier into two companies and let seasonal employees’ contracts expire.

Anpac, a union representing 2,000 pilots, also rejected Alitalia’s plan and called for the government to protect the jobs of “all of the carrier’s staff.

Alitalia, majority owned by the state, last month said it has enough cash to last only through September and faces liquidation if unions don’t agree

Alitalia will divide itself with one unit, called AZ Fly, to include the airline and the other, AZ Service, to have ground- handling, maintenance and information technology businesses, Panella said.

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This to me sounds very very serious. Memories of SABENA and Swissair do pop up. Alitalia has had it’s personnel striking for less in the last few years. I wonder how personnel will react. A strike to me seems inevitable. But Alitalia will most likely not survive a strike.