Italian railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) said more work is needed to develop a sustainable business strategy for Alitalia. FS has said it is ready to invest in Alitalia and potential partner Delta is considering how it can work with the rail company to turn it around. FS CE Gianfranco Battisti had previously promised to present an industrial plan for the carrier before Easter. “Ferrovie dello Stato is proceeding with talks with a limited number of industrial players in order to set out the conditions for forming a limited company to be a candidate to take over Alitalia’s assets,” FS said in Wednesday. The company did not give further details about the identity of other potential investors, but Italian media have named China Eastern Airlines and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri as possible partners. <br/>
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Garuda Indonesia is facing continued pressure from its majority shareholder, the Indonesian govt, to lower ticket prices and stimulate tourism as the economy flags, a move analysts described as political meddling that will hurt investor confidence. After the transport minister’s appeal last month to Garuda and other domestic airlines, Indonesian president Joko Widodo’s most trusted minister Luhut Panjaitan this week chided the carrier and ordered it to lower ticket prices by next week. Panjaitan suggested expensive ticket prices would discourage air travellers in the domestic market and tarnish the govt’s image among Indonesians, who will vote in presidential and legislative elections April 17. <br/>
Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Delta Air Lines rose above his comfort threshold by mistake. The stake climbed when Delta bought back its own stock and Berkshire increased its holdings. Buffett spurned the airline industry for years after what he acknowledged was a bad bet on US Airways Group in 1989. But he’s been piling into airline stocks since 2016, buying up stakes in Delta, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and United Continental Holdings. Buffett has been on the hunt for an “elephant-sized acquisition” to spend some of his more than US$100b cash pile. Those ambitions had been hindered by “sky-high” prices for many businesses. He’d previously said he wouldn’t rule out owning an entire airline, and his recent wagers in the industry fuelled speculation he had an appetite for such a deal. <br/>