Following the decision of the Board of Directors, Alitalia recently presented to the airline’s trade unions and staff the details of the 2017-2021 business plan, underlining the cost reduction plan of €1 billion by 2019 and the headcount reduction by up to 2,000 permanent and temporary roles in the airline.

The plan identifies a series of actions to boost revenues and reduce costs in order to achieve profitability by 2019. Alitalia said that it will reduce costs by €1 billion by 2019 and the majority of savings – two-thirds – will come from non-labour related costs while one third will be related to labour and productivity.

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The business plan contains important measures related to labour costs, including a headcount reduction and a new Collective National Labour agreement to make Alitalia’s cost base more competitive.

Headcount will reduce by up to 2,000 permanent and temporary roles in the business, which is a 50% reduction in office staff and a 20% reduction in non-flying operational roles. The airline currently employs 12,500 people around the world.

On the 15th of March 2017, Alitalia’s Board of Directors approved the airline’s turnaround business plan to stabilise it and secure its long-term sustainability. Alitalia will reduce costs by €1 billion in the first three years of the plan by 2019 with reductions in operating costs and manpower.

Achieving profitability by 2019 means Alitalia can implement positive growth that includes six new long-haul aircraft joining the fleet between 2019 and 2021. This is in addition to two aircraft joining in 2017 and 2018. The airline is also planning to launch ten new long-haul routes between 2019 and 2021 and to recruit up to 500 new crew members by 2019.

“Headcount reductions are a painful but necessary action that, alongside other cost reductions, will stabilise our financial situation and create long-term sustainability.“

“These changes are essential if we are to compete effectively in the extremely tough European aviation market. Together with trade unions, and with the support of the Italian government, we will work respectfully and fairly at ways in which to minimise the impact of the business plan on our people,” said Alitalia‘s CEO Cramer Ball.