All employees of the defunct Italian national carrier Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) will be laid off by the end of the year to enable the company's full liquidation, administrators have informed unions. The layoffs concern just over 2,000 people still receiving funds from the bankrupt airline, including 82 pilots and 1,100 flight attendants.
Cub Trasporti, a union representing the employees, has requested that the layoffs be postponed at least until the end of 2025 with the extension of the extraordinary redundancy fund that is currently in place. The idea behind the proposal is to have the measures in place while development plans are being developed for the companies Alitalia was divided into.
Worker representatives added that it is of importance that hiring plans are created so former Alitalia employees could find work at companies such as successor carrier ITA Airways (AZ, Rome Fiumicino), ground handling services provider Swissport, or Atitech, the company that took over Alitalia’s MRO branch.
“The government does not seem interested in relocating workers but rather in replacing the old workforce with cheaper labour,” Antonio Amoroso, national secretary of the union, told the online news site Gaeta, while also announcing a general strike for November 29.
The news of layoffs comes as the Italian government is pursuing the sale of a stake in ITA Airways to Lufthansa Group.
