Word: carriers
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Alitalia is losing much more than its artwork. On Monday afternoon, the board of Air France-KLM approved a deal to acquire a 25% stake in the Italian carrier for $414 million. Linking up with another major foreign airline was widely considered the only way that Alitalia could survive following years of cost overruns, labor unrest and political meddling that has led to more than $3 billion in state aid since 1998. (See pictures from Italy...
...Citing national pride, then opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi had railed against a complete takeover by the French-Dutch carrier last year. But this fall, after returning to the Prime Minister's office, Berlusconi was forced to face the reality that Alitalia's coffers were running dry. A consortium of Italian businessmen were encouraged to step in to salvage Alitalia in a deal that merged it with Italy's No. 2 carrier, Air One, But the implicit understanding was that a foreign partner would also have to be found...
...Politicians from Italy's rich north tried to block the deal because Air France has promised to shift Italy's main hub from Milan's Malpensa back to Rome. On Monday, Milan mayor Letizia Moratti pleaded in vain for Alitalia's managers to reconsider a partnership with German carrier Lufthansa...
...sale, which may be the first step toward an eventual takeover by the French-Dutch carrier, gives Air France-KLM a big say in decision-making at Alitalia and greater access to Italian routes, which are ripe with potential for both international and domestic travelers. Unlike most other European countries, Italy's geography (1,350 kilometers (840 miles) north-south from Turin to Reggio Calabria, and two major islands) fuels steady national flights. Despite the current worldwide economic crisis, Italy also remains a destination for tourists as well as the families of Italian emigrants and their descendants around the world...
...recently as last Wednesday, have virulently opposed the new consortium, which has trimmed the 20,000 work force by some 3,000, and cut pay and benefits to those employees who remain. Unions say that joining up with Air France is essentially the death knell for the Italian carrier. More labor unrest is expected. But many ordinary Italians will finally be satisfied that an apparently viable solution had been found to avoid more public investment or outright failure of the national carrier...