Alitalia will enter extraordinary administration, the equivalent of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the carrier announced May 2. The move comes a week after Alitalia labour unions rejected a tentative deal thrashed out between the airline and its employee trade union representatives. That deal called for around 980 redundancies from the company’s 12,500 workforce and an 8% pay cut. The workforce was required to agree to the terms of the labour deal in order to unlock a further E2b (US$2.2b) of recapitalisation funding the shareholders were prepared to plough into the company. Alitalia has asked Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development to appoint “commissioners” who will be responsible for determining whether the company has a viable chance of survival, or whether it should be liquidated. <br/>