Alitalia to cut 2,037 jobs, reduce flight crew pay in latest revamp: unions

Alitalia's new restructuring plan envisages cutting 16% of its workforce and reducing flight personnel's salaries by up to a third in a last-ditch attempt to make the troubled Italian airline profitable, labor officials said Friday. Italy's flagship carrier, which has made an annual profit only a few times in its 70-year history, is in a race against time to win union support for its latest turnaround plan as it seeks to unlock financing and avoid having to ground planes. Unions, however, called a 24-hour strike for April 5 after discussions with Alitalia management Friday. The company's plan includes 2,037 ground staff job cuts out of a total workforce of 12,500. "This is not a plan to get the company back on its feet but only a cost-cutting exercise," said Emiliano Fiorentino, national secretary of the Filt-Cisl union. "It's basically a survival plan and as such it is not acceptable." Under the plan, flight attendants could have their pay cut by 32% and pilots by 22-28%, unions said. Labor groups also fear that job cuts could soon extend to flight personnel. Alitalia CEO Cramer Ball said the cuts were "painful but necessary". <br/>