Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) has appointed Gabriele Del Torchio as its chief executive officer. Del Torchio, an Italian manager who turned around the fortunes of Ducati, the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer, replaces Andrea Ragnetti, who quit in February after the Italian national carrier posted a net loss of EUR 280million. According to Corriere della Sera, Del Torchio will have to "radically cut costs in order to meet a key company objective of balancing the books by this year," in preparation for the carrier's planned sell off to Air France-KLM who currently have a 25% stake in the company.