Alitalia Employees to be Laid Off as Liquidation Begins

All employees of the defunct Italian national carrier Alitalia will be laid off by the end of 2024 as the company moves toward full liquidation. Administrators have confirmed that over 2,000 workers, including 82 pilots and 1,100 flight attendants, are affected by the mass layoffs, which will bring an end to any remaining financial support for the bankrupt airline.

The layoffs are part of the final phase of Alitalia’s liquidation process, a move that follows the airline’s bankruptcy and subsequent division of its assets into separate entities. Cub Trasporti, the union representing the affected workers, has called for the layoffs to be postponed until at least the end of 2025. The union has proposed an extension of the extraordinary redundancy fund, which currently supports the workers, to provide financial relief while new development plans are created for the companies that took over Alitalia’s operations.

The union has emphasized the importance of ensuring that hiring plans are put in place to allow former Alitalia employees the opportunity to find employment at companies such as ITA Airways, the successor carrier, Swissport, a ground handling services provider, or Atitech, the company that took over Alitalia’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) branch. The union has expressed concern that the government is prioritizing replacing the old workforce with lower-cost labor rather than assisting former employees in finding new opportunities.

“The government does not seem interested in relocating workers but rather in replacing the old workforce with cheaper labour,” said Antonio Amoroso, national secretary of Cub Trasporti. He also announced plans for a general strike on November 29, 2024, in protest of the layoffs.

The news of the layoffs comes at a time when the Italian government is pursuing the sale of a stake in ITA Airways to the Lufthansa Group, which could further impact employment prospects for Alitalia’s former workforce. The restructuring of Italy’s aviation sector continues to unfold, with the fate of many workers still uncertain as the transition from Alitalia to its successors takes shape.

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Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com