Italia Trasporto Aereo, which will be known as ITA, is the new public company created to replace Alitalia. After arduous negotiations with the regulatory body of the European Union, it will finally begin operating on October 15.
October 14 will be the last day of Alitalia’s life, which has been under intervention since May 2, 2017. This was announced by the Italian Ministry of Economy, which will be a shareholder of ITA.
Thus, after seven months, the confrontation between the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, and the Italian government finally ends. The Italian government announced that «the discussion with the European Commission has made it possible to reach a constructive and balanced solution.»
The next steps foresee an initial liquidity injection of 700 million euros for 2021, 400 million for 2022 and 250 million for 2023. With the first payment, ITA will participate in the collateral to buy the Alitalia brand, among other assets.
By virtue of the agreement with the EU, ITA will not be able to participate in the contest to buy the frequent flyer program, Milemiglia. The management anticipated that it will create another, but there are no details about what will happen to the miles accumulated by passengers.
The company’s initial fleet will be 52 aircraft (45 for regional flights and 7 for intercontinental flights), and will rise to 78 in 2022. By the end of 2025, the fleet will have 105 aircraft, of which 81 will be new generation.
Regarding airport slots, ITA will sell 15% of those currently owned by Alitalia in Linate and 57% of those in Fiumicino. In terms of personnel, the firm will start operations with a plant of between 2,750 and 2,950 employees, to which another 5,700 will be added in 2022.
Therefore, by the end of next year the company will have approximately 8,600 workers, 1,400 fewer than those currently employed at Alitalia.
