Alitalia breakthrough as pilots agree deal

Pilots at Alitalia agreed tonight to nearly double their annual flying hours and accept lower pay – the first breakthrough in talks aimed at keeping the near-bankrupt Italian carrier in business.

The accord between management and pilots’ unions brings the company a step closer to the approval of a wider rescue plan, which is crucial to Alitalia’s survival.

The accord with pilots is to be signed later tonight, an industry source said.

“We have to believe that there’s the possibility to reach agreement,” Luigi Angeletti of UIL, one of the country’s main unions, said tonight.

After days of around-the-clock negotiations, Alitalia pilots agreed to fly nearly double their current 450 hours per year and take a pay cut.

Later tonight, unions representing ground staff and cabin crew were set to negotiate similar productivity gains for Alitalia before moving on to the last, and most difficult, talks concerning job cuts.

Alitalia chairman and chief executive Giancarlo Cimoli has set tomorrow as the deadline for the approval of the relaunch plan, which includes laying off about a fourth of the company’s 22,000-strong labour force and spinning off the company’s service operations from the flight business.

The approval of the recovery plan is crucial to the company’s survival as it would allow Alitalia to access a €400m loan approved by the Italian government and the European Union. Alitalia says it has only enough liquidity to pay salaries until the end of this month.