How stupid and uninformed can he be?
Firstly, someone should encourage the European Commission to issue a statement immediately pointing out that Mr Di Pietro would be acting illegally if he did anything to prevent the executive board of Alitalia from making its own decision.
Secondly, all those concerned should simply take note that
- if there is a business reason for long haul flights from Milan, then others will step in, buy the slots, and operate the flights;
- if there is no business reason for long haul flights from Milan, then you can't force Alitalia to operate them otherwise Alitalia will go under and there won't be any long haul flights from Milan (because no-one will have bought the slots).
If the customers don't want the flights, it is not within Mr Di Pietro's power to force them to be operated. Amen to that. It's at times like this when we can thank God (or whoever) for the European Union.