A strike at Alitalia hit the travel plans of thousands of people on Thursday as the Italian carrier was forced to cancel 60 percent of flights. Unions called a four-hour stoppage hitting domestic and international flights from 1300 GMT in protest against a major restructuring which is set to see Alitalia shed hundreds of jobs and slash salaries.
The carrier sought to minimise inconvenience to passengers with mailed, texted and phoned warnings and said more than half would be able to fly later Thursday. Alitalia added it had found workaround solutions for some 90 percent overall. But the firm is "in a critical situation," union leader Nino Cortorillo told AFP.
"We have been waiting for months for shareholders to come up with a strategic plan" to salvage a "deteriorating financial situation," said Cortorillo. "Staff are very concerned. They have already been through two restructurings in 2008 and in 2014," which between them saw 9,000 jobs go. Media reports indicate there could be up to 3,000 layoffs from a total workforce of 12,000 - already down from 20,000 in 2008. "But we don't get told anything," complained Cortorillo.
He accused the company of failing to respect national worktime and pay guidelines, something he said was "unprecedented in our country." Alitalia continues to struggle despite Etihad Airways taking a controlling 49 percent stake in 2014 and injecting 560 million euros ($590 million) as part of a 1.8 billion euro rescue deal designed to return the airline to profitability this year.
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