ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Workers in loss-making Italian airline Alitalia rejected a management restructuring plan to cut jobs and salaries on Monday, betting that the government will be asked to call in an administrator to draft an alternative rescue plan.
The flag carrier, owned 49 percent by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, has been bailed out repeatedly by Italian governments and private investors over the years, though Rome says it will not renationalize Alitalia and creditors are losing patience."The workers' anger won out," said Antonio Piras, general secretary of the Fit-Cisl union, explaining why two-thirds of workers had rejected a plan that had been agreed with unions.The plan involved cutting 1,700 jobs among ground staff and trimming salaries among flight personnel by 8 percent in order to unlock additional financing and keep Alitalia in the air.It has made an annual profit only a few times in its 70-year history, is losing at least 500,000 euros ($543,000) a day and is set to run out of cash in coming weeks, sources say.Alitalia's board will hold a meeting on Tuesday.Sources say the company will use that meeting to consider whether to enter special administration, under which the government would be asked to appoint a commissioner to assess whether the carrier can be overhauled or should be wound up.With the firm under protection from creditors, the commissioner would seek to prepare industrial and financial plans for a rapid revamp of Alitalia, either as a standalone company or through a partial or total sale, or else put it on course for liquidation.Alitalia had warned that union backing was essential to obtain fresh funds from shareholders, which also include Italy's top two banks Intesa Sanpaolo