Alitalia risks collapse after staff spurn restructuring plan

Going down: Passengers boarding an Alitalia-Etihad plane on the tarma at Brindisi airport in southern Italy. Alitalia workers have rejected a restructuring deal from the company’s management and unions to save the ailing carrier. – AFP

ROME: Alitalia SpA workers voted against job reductions and pay cuts touted as the last chance for the cash-strapped Italian flag-carrier to avoid being placed under administration.

Staff at the airline, which employs 12,500 people, rejected the steps brokered by management and labour leaders as part of a 2 billion-euro (US$2.2bil) refinancing package, according to the results of a ballot released by Uiltrasporti. About 70% of voters opposed the deal, the USB union said.