New Alitalia, decisive week: the start of the newco perhaps on Wednesday

The new Alitalia could take off in the middle of the week. More than two months after the announcement on Facebook in which the Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte presented the top management of the newco – the CEO Fabio Maria Lazzerini and the president Francesco Caio – are days of continuous contacts between the four ministries involved in the dossier (Economy , Transport, Economic Development and Work) called to sign the constitution decree, while in parallel the talks continue with the candidates who will sit on the board of directors which will probably be composed of five members in addition to the CEO and the president.

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The hearing on Wednesday

Transport Minister Paola De Micheli to announce the change of pace, speaking of a matter of a few days questioned on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum. I really hope to have news towards the middle of the week adds the minister. Not by chance: on Wednesday 9 September – at lunchtime – the minister will report to the ninth commission of the Chamber on the economic and financial situation and on the development prospects of Alitalia. De Micheli – ministerial sources explain to Courier service – he has been working for days to introduce himself by announcing the official start of the new company. Also because the opposition awaits you at the gate and is preparing to ask you for the delays in setting up the newco.

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A complex dossier

But the same minister, at the Ambrosetti Forum, to recall how that of the tricolor carrier – in extraordinary administration since May 2, 2017 – is not a simple dossier: it seems something almost taken for granted now, instead, as you know, it is enough that you look back on the history of Alitalia, a very complex thing that I believe will see the light in the next few days. The newco – underlined De Micheli – will have no debts (starting from the 1.3 billion loan subject to a double investigation by the European Commission) and starts with a capital of 20 million euros, but can actually count on 3 billion.

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The role of the state

Another minister, Stefano Patuanelli (Economic Development) explains that even if the State starts as a public company in the great transformations of the productive sectors, there must be and must be a guide and for this reason the State cannot stay in Alitalia for 20 years: it enters to face a corporate crisis and accompanies its exit. According to De Micheli in the industrial plan of the newco there will be a series of discontinuity forecasts and some strategic choices that are the real big question that finally convinced us to raise the future of Italian air traffic in this way.

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The newco

As revealed by the Courier service the newco should immediately start operating allowing the CEO Lazzerini to set up a first team – 7-8 profiles – to start addressing all the issues that cannot be delegated to the current advisors (Deloitte, Grimaldi and Oliver Wyman) such as the network, sales, international alliances, legal, finance, the fleet. Above all, someone who takes care of personnel and industrial relations is needed to negotiate the new employment contract with the unions.

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Time was wasted

Several experts recall that there is no more time. On the contrary: several weeks were lost and this will also have consequences on the accounts of the newco. According to them, in fact, the new Alitalia could – and should – start working on contracts in April, in the middle of the lockdown, being in an advantageous position in 2021 at least on kerosene supply contracts. Five months ago – says one of the analysts – the barrel for jet fuel reached 17 euros, today we are around 38-40 euros. By carrying out the fuel hedging in April, Alitalia could have snatched € 25-30 per barrel for the next few years. Fuel hedging is a fuel hedging tool that carriers use to reduce their exposure to fluctuating kerosene costs. In 2019, 27% of operating costs were fuel consumption.

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