Following a shareholders meeting on Tuesday, May 2, the Board of Directors of Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) has voted in favour of filing for “amministrazione straordinaria” (Extraordinary Administration) as required by Italian law.
The carrier said in a separate statement issued shortly after the board meeting that the vote was unanimous.
As previously reported, the carrier's labour force last month voted against a restructuring plan reached between management and unions. Employee acceptance of the plan was key to shareholders including Italian banks as well as Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) availing EUR2 billion (USD2.12 billion) worth of fresh capital.
“We have done all we could to support Alitalia, as a minority shareholder, but it is clear this business requires fundamental and far-reaching restructuring to survive and grow in future," James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group, said. "Without the support of all stakeholders for that restructuring, we are not prepared to continue to invest. We, therefore, support the necessary decision of the Alitalia Board to apply for extraordinary administration."
Extraordinary Administration is an insolvency procedure which aims to restructure large scale firms burdened with significant debts. It is supervised by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development.
