Some Italian, German, Swiss and Austrian trade unions have written a letter addressed to the ad interim European Commissioner for Competition, Didier Reynders, to request the approval of the privatization agreement of the national carrier ITA Airways, the result of the agreement between the German aviation group Lufthansa and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).

"We call on the European Commission to promptly and positively support the merger to defend European sovereignty over critical air transport infrastructure. This is the right path for ITA to secure our jobs. And also a fundamental step to maintain European aviation strong and reliable for our citizens and for the economy", write the unions, including the five Italians Uiltrasporti, Ugl Trasporto Aereo, Filt Cgil, Fit-Cisl, National Professional Civil Aviation Association (Anpac).

Meanwhile, there remains the issue of the 2721 workers of the former Alitalia airline who are on redundancy pay. This is only partially untangled by the recent agreement between the unions and the commissioners (Gabriele Fava, Giuseppe Leogrande, Daniele Umberto Santosuosso) who manage the airline, now in extraordinary administration: 90 pilots, 330 flight attendants and 55 officials will be rehired. Stop layoffs for workers who will qualify for pensions in the next two years. 

On the topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.