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Unions voted down recapitalisation plan [Merged future of Alitalia thread]

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Unions voted down recapitalisation plan [Merged future of Alitalia thread]

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Old Feb 13, 2019, 1:31 pm
  #691  
 
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Originally Posted by malmostoso
The Italian government also appears to put money in the operation (shocker).
It is baffling to say the least that, in a country with thousands of other priorities, the government (by all means a case of history repeating here as previous governments had adopted exactly the same modus-operandi) is again ready to inject public money into an airline which has had no strategic importance whatsoever for a good number of years now and that has shrunk dramatically in the last decade (quick data point: from a fleet of over 200 aircraft back in the days of Malpensa to just over 100 planes as we speak and a mediocre network).

G
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Old Feb 13, 2019, 1:50 pm
  #692  
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Delta and easyJet together are looking for about 40% of the company; Air France-KLM won't be joining the rescue after all.

(AF-KL's purchase of 31% of Virgin Atlantic from Richard Branson was cleared by the EC yesterday; perhaps they are now content with their investments in other airlines together with Delta!)

Originally Posted by Bloomberg
Delta confirmed it had submitted a nonbinding letter of interest to Ferrovie about “a consortium approach in a future Alitalia together with easyJet.” Neither airline disclosed details of their possible roles in resuscitating the Italian airline.

The foreign carriers are considering whether to jointly buy as much as 40 percent of Alitalia, the people said.

Delta, based in Atlanta, has used international partnerships and equity investments to expand its footprint without relying solely on its own fleet and resources. The company’s holdings include 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., 49 percent of Grupo Aeromexico SAB and 3.6 percent of China Eastern Airlines Corp.

Air France, Lufthansa

Air France-KLM Group, a former shareholder in Alitalia and now 10 percent owned by Delta, isn’t interested in joining the rescue, while Deutsche Lufthansa AG would be interested only if the Italian airline restructured first, daily newspaper Il Messaggero reported Tuesday.
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Old Feb 13, 2019, 1:51 pm
  #693  
 
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Clearly the number of votes they plan to win (not least because of the "fight" against the EU when the commission will rule against the whole operation for illegal state aid) is larger than the number of votes they could lose because of the waste of money.
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Old Feb 13, 2019, 1:54 pm
  #694  
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Originally Posted by AlicorporateUK


It is baffling to say the least that, in a country with thousands of other priorities, the government (by all means a case of history repeating here as previous governments had adopted exactly the same modus-operandi) is again ready to inject public money into an airline which has had no strategic importance whatsoever for a good number of years now and that has shrunk dramatically in the last decade (quick data point: from a fleet of over 200 aircraft back in the days of Malpensa to just over 100 planes as we speak and a mediocre network).

G
Get this...

Originally Posted by Bloomberg
While Ferrovie is assembling the rescue group and creating a new company after the bankruptcy process, about 3 billion euros of debt may be left to Italian taxpayers in a so-called bad company, according to Andrea Giuricin, a professor at Milan Bicocca University.
A nice gift from the government to the taxpayers of Italy!!!
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Old Feb 13, 2019, 4:26 pm
  #695  
 
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Is it a done deal now?
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Old Feb 13, 2019, 10:00 pm
  #696  
 
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Originally Posted by Paul E Thomas
Is it a done deal now?
Absolutely not.
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Old Feb 14, 2019, 2:10 am
  #697  
 
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Originally Posted by AlicorporateUK
It is baffling to say the least that, in a country with thousands of other priorities, the government (by all means a case of history repeating here as previous governments had adopted exactly the same modus-operandi) is again ready to inject public money into an airline which has had no strategic importance whatsoever for a good number of years now and that has shrunk dramatically in the last decade (quick data point: from a fleet of over 200 aircraft back in the days of Malpensa to just over 100 planes as we speak and a mediocre network).
No, it's standard italian government procedure, doesn't matter who's in charge...

Originally Posted by malmostoso
Clearly the number of votes they plan to win (not least because of the "fight" against the EU when the commission will rule against the whole operation for illegal state aid) is larger than the number of votes they could lose because of the waste of money.
Too many Italians have become "anesthetized" to this kind of maneuvers
Originally Posted by irishguy28
A nice gift from the government to the taxpayers of Italy!!!
As usual...
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Old Feb 14, 2019, 4:19 am
  #698  
 
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Here we gone again...
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Old Feb 14, 2019, 12:17 pm
  #699  
 
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In a brief statement with a couple of Italian mainstream’s news agencies, one of the main unions’ leader expressed his content towards the fact that Lufthansa wasn’t allowed to enter the crucial negotiations as “they would have reduced Alitalia into no more than a regional player” ( Yes, because they are a global player as we speak and clearly the likes of BA/LH/AF are struggling to keep up! ). I’m not entirely sure whether the unions are just playing stupid or if they have been living in a box/different planet for the last 20 years or so, but this clearly says it all on why any airline/investor has never succeeded and will never do so in turning things around with Alitalia. It’s just a pointless exercise and I’m amazed that Delta and a well-run carrier like EasyJet have decided to go ahead (to do what is not clear yet, but...).

G
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Last edited by AlicorporateUK; Feb 14, 2019 at 12:22 pm
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Old Feb 14, 2019, 12:27 pm
  #700  
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I think the reason Alitalia manages to stagger along as a zombie company is that no government wants to be the one who "closed" Alitalia......everyone knows it is a pointless effort to keep it alive, the idea that the State Railways have a logical interest to invest in Alitalia is beyond any credibility, it is just political inertia, trying to kick the can down the road again for a few years i'm afraid....
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Old Feb 14, 2019, 12:40 pm
  #701  
 
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How about this: the Italian government might keep more than 50% shares in the new Alitalia
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Old Feb 14, 2019, 12:50 pm
  #702  
 
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Originally Posted by dh01
I think the reason Alitalia manages to stagger along as a zombie company is that no government wants to be the one who "closed" Alitalia......everyone knows it is a pointless effort to keep it alive, the idea that the State Railways have a logical interest to invest in Alitalia is beyond any credibility, it is just political inertia, trying to kick the can down the road again for a few years i'm afraid....
Spot on.

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Old Feb 17, 2019, 6:26 am
  #703  
 
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If you read the Bloomberg article well, then you will realize that nothing has been decided so far (bolding is mine):

The two airlines are interested in potentially teaming up to run Alitalia with Italian state railway Ferrovie dello Stato ...

Discussions among the potential partners will focus on “the definition of the main aspects of the new Alitalia plan,” Ferrovie said in the statement. EasyJet confirmed on Thursday talks on “forming a consortium to explore options” for the Italian carrier’s future operations.
...

EasyJet cautioned that there was no certainty the talks would lead to a transaction.

Following reports in Italian media over the weekend, Delta confirmed its plan for a partnership with EasyJet. The U.S. company said late Wednesday that it had submitted a nonbinding letter of interest to Ferrovie about “a consortium approach in a future Alitalia together with EasyJet.”
In other words:
  1. They said that they are cooperating in a potential partial take-over of AZ
  2. They need to look into the books
  3. They need to sort out if any buisness plan could be set-up and how that would look like
  4. They don't promise anything: no take-over, no investment, no staff reductions, no nothing
We are back to square one. They still have to define what LH and others did 2 years ago! This will take time. That is indeed very very bad news for AZ, as time is running up. Bankrupcy is getting more realistic with this move!

I am wonding when the EU will insist on paying back the loan, as this endless saga is not acceptable from a competitors point of view (subsidaries) and the not-paid back state load is putting additionaly burden to already high Italian government deficit. If that happens, AZ will stop operating.
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Old Feb 17, 2019, 7:11 am
  #704  
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Originally Posted by Scrooge McDuck
I am wonding when the EU will insist on paying back the loan, as this endless saga is not acceptable from a competitors point of view (subsidaries) and the not-paid back state load is putting additionaly burden to already high Italian government deficit. If that happens, AZ will stop operating.
They started the formal investigation April last year. A formal state aids procedure can typically last up to 18 months, so next Autumn is likely to be crunch-time is nothing major happens before then.
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Old Feb 23, 2019, 5:17 pm
  #705  
 
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Are there any updates from the ongoing negotiations?
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