I (mainly) agree with Bob Crowe of the RMT on SAR Privatisation

In one of my recent posts on Help Save Our Forests I included the following Paragraph:

The slow and almost covert sale of National assets to Private and indeed
often foreign ownership by successive Governments has been going on for
far too long. But this is not just a privatisation too far, but a
disgraceful act and needs to be stopped.

Well another planned privatisation has been causing me extreme irritation, but not quite enough to blog on (after all I am an Idle Man) has been the plan to transfer the Helicopter Search and Rescue (SAR) currently run by the RAF, Royal Navy and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency to a Private Consortium. The fact that the currently the whole process has been thrown into disarray by irregularities in the bidding process by the preferred contractor Soteria, only delays the Governments Plan, which started under the Labour Government in 2006.

The current SAR Helicopter Fleet does require replacement, and therefore new aircraft should be procured, but not by selling off the service to a Private contractor. I therefore in the unexpected position of almost totally agreeing with, Bob Crowe the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, when he was quoted as having said:

'This whole sordid and botched episode shows that the raw greed of the
private sector should never be allowed anywhere near life or death
rescue services on the high seas. Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money
has been wasted and the whole plan should now be scrapped, not
shelved.’

The only things I would change in the above statement is to remove the words 'raw greed of the' and the words 'on the high seas'. So my plaglarised version of Bob Crowe's Statement would be:

'This whole sordid and botched episode shows that the private sector should never be allowed anywhere near life or death rescue services. Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money
has been wasted and the whole plan should now be scrapped, not
shelved.’

The Search and Rescue Service should NEVER have been put out to contract and now the process has been halted, it should be abandoned and money made available over the next three years to replace the current fleet of SAR Sea Kings with S-92 heavy lift helicopters. Also plans should include increasing the number of Helicopters and SAR bases, not the gradual reduction seen over the last decade.

Len McCluskey Speaks out in support of the Student Protest.

The Leader of the Unite Union Britain's Biggest and the owner main financial supporter of the Labour Party, Comrade Mr Len Mcluskey has spoken to the Guardian in an article entitled: Unions warn of massive wave of strikes. In the article he discusses his support of the Student Protests and how the Union movement should be planning a broad strike movement against the cuts. Oh goody an unrepentant former supporter of the aims of the Militant Tendency is alive and well and running the largest of Britain's Unions, just what this country didn't need!

Links
Other Guardian Articles by Len McCluskey
The Telegraphs Article 20th Dec 2010, which quotes his latest Chat to the Guardian:
Len McCluskey: head of Britain's biggest union praises 'magnificent' student protest movement
Also from the Telegraph but back on the 28th Nov:
Len McCluskey refuses to rule out strikes on Royal Wedding Day (What a miserable man!)

In this Blog:
In Reference to Mr McCluskey's Election:
Vote Unite sorry I meant Labour - NO WAY. 22nd Nov 2010

Student Protests:
Students Protestors, no Criminal Vandalising Hooligans 10th Dec 2010
The only ones to come out of the Student Protests with Honour! 11th Nov 2010

Vote Unite sorry I meant Labour - NO WAY.

Unite, the Union that owns the Labour Party, sorry I mean contributes, the most to the Labour Party has voted as Leader one Comrade, I mean Mr Len McCluskey, who still quotes Communist guerrilla leader Che Guevara (which would be quaint if he wasn't so powerful) and believes there is no such thing as an irresponsible strike! It is also apparent he still espouses the agenda of the Militant Tendency which in the 1980's set out infiltrate Labour Constituency Parties with the objective to moving the Party much further to the Left. Overall he reminds me of the most Militant and Destructive Union Leaders of the 1970's and that is an extremely bad thing for the average Unite Member, future of Industrial relations, the Labour Party and most importantly the Country.

I had hoped that Bob Crow of the RMT was the last throwback to that era to make it to the leadership of a Union. Sadly I was wrong.

As Unite is the Labour Parties biggest backer and regardless of how the party spin it, a major unelected influence on their future direction, something that I have always felt was a concern. Now with Len McCluskey leading Unite, I think they will be unfit for election to Government for the foreseeable future.

The only bright spot is I shall no longer even have to bother reading their Election Literature, whether for Council Election, Bye Election, or their Manifesto for a General Election, because with his brooding influence, however worthy their Candidate they won't be getting my Vote.

Agreeing and Disagreeing with Hazel Blears

The Rt Hon Hazel Blears Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has for a variety of reasons started to move from the fuzzy edges of the Idle Man's Political Radar to being further into focus.

So I started to do a smidgen of research on the Lady and came across a BBC Headline: Blears attacks political bloggers. Oh Sigh! - Hazel Blears having a swipe at the nasty little bloggers.

Fortunately I did take the time to actually read the BBC Article, as this led me to a speech she gave to the Hansard Society in November 2008, snappily entitled Tackling Political Disengagement (in PDF Format) - This I suggest is worth reading, and not just to ensure this nasty little blogger isn't taking elements out of context.

Whilst as previously stated the speech is worth reading in its own right, this post is concerned with:
The Mainstream Media, Political Bloggers and Political People:

The Mainstream Media
The following is an extract from the speech:
Famously, Tony Blair called the media a ‘feral beast’ in one of his last speeches as Prime Minister.
But behind the eye-catching phrase was a serious and helpful analysis of a 24-hour broadcast media and shrinking and increasingly competitive newspaper market which demands more ‘impact’ from its reporting – not the reporting of facts to enable citizens to make sense of the world, but the translation of every political discussion into a row, every difficulty a crisis, every rocky patch for the Prime Minister the ‘worst week ever.’

The changing structure of the media is what drives this desire for ‘impact’ and the retreat from dispassionate reporting. And I would single out the rise of the commentariat as especially noteworthy.

It is within living memory that journalists’ names started to appear in newspapers; before then, no name was attached to articles. And in recent years commentary has taken over from investigation or news reporting, to the point where commentators are viewed by some as every bit as important as elected politicians, with views as valid as Cabinet Ministers. And if you can wield influence and even power, without ever standing for office or being held to account by an electorate, it further undermines our democracy.

The commentariat operates without scrutiny or redress. They cannot be held to account for their views, even when they perform the most athletic and acrobatic of flip-flops in the space of a few weeks. I can understand when commentators disagree with each other; it’s when they disagree with themselves we should worry.

There will always be a role for political commentary, providing perspective, illumination and explanation. But editors need to do more to disentangle it from news reporting, and to allow elected politicians the same kind of space and prominence for comment as people who have never stood for office.
I to some extent agree with Hazel Blears' about lack of separation between reporting and opinion, not just in Political reporting, but across the entire spectrum of news items.
As for the specifics of Political reporting three factors come to mind:

• The public tend to trust the commentators more than the politicians on whom they report/comment.
• Politicians like their Celebrity (sic) Counterparts have embraced the Media in a ways that is sometimes sickening to watch. But unlike those celebrities who fall foul of the Media, their publicists aren't in the same league as Max Clifford!
• The decline in Respect - 30 Years ago you might not respect the holder of public office, but you did respect the office they held. Today (and once again I blame the politician themselves for this), this is no longer the case. So a politician regardless of the office held, is as much fair game as a drug abusing pop star and has as many come-backs!

Political Bloggers
The following is an extract from the speech:
This brings me to the role of political bloggers. Perhaps because of the nature of the technology, there is a tendency for political blogs to have a ‘Samizdat’ style. The most popular blogs are right-wing, ranging from the considered Tory views of Iain Dale, to the vicious nihilism of Guido Fawkes.

Perhaps this is simply anti-establishment. Blogs have only existed under a Labour Government. Perhaps if there was a Tory Government, all the leading blogs would be left-of-centre?

There are some informative and entertaining political blogs, including those written by elected councillors. But mostly, political blogs are written by people with a disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy.

Unless and until political blogging ‘adds value’ to our political culture, by allowing new and disparate voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair.

I am strangely proud that she says most political blogs are Samizdat Style (the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media), as it shows free speech is alive and well. Unfortunately this blog is not able to make this claim - Sigh!

I haven't done enough research to say whether I agree with the statement there are more right-wing blogs than left wing ones, but I would say that whatever party was in power, would attract criticism from the blogger community. Some of which would be anti-establishment, rather than simply against a specific policy. As for the blogs mentioned by name: Iain Dale's Diary and the obviously disliked Guido Fawkes (the name tends to indicate the viewpoint) well, have a read and make up your own minds.

As for entertaining blogs written by local Councillors, well from the small sample I have bothered to read, they fall into three categories: Self-serving, Concentrating so much on the minutiae they are Anally retentive, or worst of all Self-Serving and Anally retentive!

But moving on to the major criticism:
political blogs are written by people with a disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy.
Hmm. The Political Blogs I read are:

• Written by people who are extremely worried about protecting democracy, but I agree in many blogs there is a general disdain for Politicians (which as for those of you who have read the Political Postings in this blog, know I share).
• I don't think bloggers have to unearth scandals, it is more a case of picking which of the many there are, to write about.
• Conspiracies: Yes, some see conspiracy everywhere, including those apparently being hatched by the Government, but many more actually complain about what they see as incompetance in Government, both by Politicians and Officials.
• Perceived Hypocrisy: A lot of it is not perceived, it is Hypocrisy!
• I am a cynic, but it has taken this Government to push me to near despair. I am sorry Hazel, but that wasn't achieved by the Mainstream Media, or Bloggers but by the behaviour and political ineptness of the Government, MPs - mainly Labour, but not exclusively, the rise of Spin, the politicising of some Senior Civil Servants and a decline in Standards of Public Life.
  

Political People
Again extract from the speech:
Secondly, let me look at the people in politics. Politicians must not live on ‘Planet Politics’ and behave in ways which are alien and strange to the electorate.
This happens partly because there is a trend towards politics being seen as a career move rather than call to public service. Increasingly we have seen a ‘transmission belt’ from university activist, MPs’ researcher, think-tank staffer, Special Adviser, to Member of Parliament, and ultimately to the front bench.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of those jobs, but it is deeply unhealthy for our political class to be drawn from narrowing social base and range of experience.
We need people from a range of backgrounds – business, the armed forces, scientists, teachers, the NHS, shopworkers – to make good laws.
And we need more MPs in Parliament from a wider pool of backgrounds: people who know what it is to worry about the rent collector’s knock, or the fear of lay-off, so that the decisions we take reflect the realities people face. In short, we need more Dennis Skinners, more David Davises, more David Blunketts in the front line of politics. Or if you prefer, more MPs who read the Mirror or Sun, and fewer who write for the Guardian or Telegraph.
The political parties, and the trade unions, need to actively recruit, mentor and support working class people into political life, and offer ways into the hermetically-sealed world of politics for people who have never been an MP’s researcher or worked for a think-tank. Just as we have programmes to encourage women and people from ethnic minorities, so we need an ‘Emily’s List’ style programme for people attracted from across the world of work. This would provide practical support for people wanting to get involved, who do not have the unfair advantages of the political elites.
Other than not wanting MPs who read the Sun amd Mirror as their view on the world and being extremely distrustful of Trade Union Activism, I find myself agreeing with Hazel Blears on most of what she said! After all in this blog I posted: Mainly a Rant on 'Careerist Politicians'

There are other parts of the speech which are worthy of consideration and are thought provoking, but they might add value to the 'political culture' and obviously this is not what a blog is supposed to do.

In her speech Hazel Blears mentions a paper by:
Gerry Stoker, Colin Hay and Andy Williamson: - Revitalizing Politics: Have We Lost the Plot?.
This is worth reading and if I can rise above my deep pool of Political Cynicism, Apathy and Despair, I may even write a post about it!

Finally a well respected, well balanced Political Blog that even Hazel Belars would have to admit adds to our political culture:
BBC - Nick Robinson's Newslog

The Idle Man,
P.S. Note to Tom Bradby at ITN - Why haven't you got a Blog, or has ITN said you can't?

Strike One For Alitalia

The Reborn Alitalia is 7 Days Old and today (20th January) already has had its first strike (as against the mere disruption caused on its first day).
Admittedly this lasted a mere 4 Hours and is more a 'flexing of the muscles' by the union involved, SDL rather than a full scale clash.

This mini-strike still resulted in 22 Flights being cancelled including 6 International services!

So what was this strike over?
According to the SDL Union:
The protest was over new labour contracts and the criteria used to hire employees as part of Alitalia's relaunch.

Surely this was all resolved in the incredibly protracted negotiations between CAI Investor Group, the Unions and the Italian Government prior to the relaunch?

Actually I don't think the answer matters, just the conclusion and that is nothing has changed (so far), and the New Alitalia is the same as the Inefficient, Unsustainable, Old Alitalia.

Previous Posts on Alitalia in this Blog:
14 January 2009: Alitalia - Unions spoil first Day
13 January 2009: Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?
Last Year:
06th October 2008:
Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

13th September 2008:
Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

29th August 2008:
Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection

29th July 2008:
Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

Alitalia - Unions spoil first Day

The New Alitalia was officially reborn yesterday and the Unions couldn't even hold back to allow the relaunch to pass without incident!

• Alitalia workers wary of the impact from a new alliance with Air France-KLM demonstrated at Milan's Malpensa Airport by chanting slogans and waving union banners, causing delays.
• At Rome's Fiumicino Airport, delays of more than two hours were reported as workers marched outside.
  

The above does NOT bode well for the future of the reborn airline.

See the previous post: Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

But on a lighter note, the following is what I think is a great quote on why the original Alitalia went bankrupt:
"Alitalia died of grandeur," Augusto Fantozzi, who ran it during its bankruptcy told L'Espresso magazine. "It paid triple for everything. To give you an example: it would send three cars to pick up cabin crew, in case the first got a flat tyre and the motor broke down in the second. It was a waste."
Whilst this was part of the problem, a less colourful, but more encompassing summary of the reasons for the failure of Alitalia from Airwise/Reuters:
The state-controlled carrier soon became a vehicle for political favours, and its unionised staff, who enjoyed lavish perks, prevented efforts to restructure to meet the 21st century challenges of an aviation downturn and low-cost competition.

Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

Today the 13th January 2009 Alitalia is officially reborn. Now owned by the Investor Group Compagnia Aerea Italiana, shorn of its non-Airline Operating activies and having absorbed the commercially oriented and efficient Air One, the new slimmer Carrier is officially relaunched.

Also although not yet signed and sealed, the Air France-KLM offer to take a 25%, 320 million euros stake in Alitalia seems almost a certainty. The previous front runner for this investment, Lufthansa, lost its position when it annouced it was starting its own Italian Airline, Lufthansa Italia. Although Lufthansa may, even at this late stage make a bid to top Air France-KLM, this seems unlikely.

Whilst it is a miracle that Alitalia has reached this point (the Pope's prayers for the Airline seems to have helped), and the investment from Air France-KLM (or Lufthansa) will keep the company going for a while, the factors that will determine whether Alitalia has long term future are complex and many are not under its control.

• The ongoing Global Economic Crisis and its effect on the Airline Industry.
• The new labour contracts with the Alitalia Unions must produce the cost savings and productivity they are designed to produce.
• Those same Unions must not revert to their old ways of immediately launching crippling strike action whenever a problem, however minor occurs between them and the company.
• How Alitalia copes with the new commerical realities with Ryanair increased presence in the Italian Market and the launch next month of Lufthansa Italia, which will cement Lufthansa's already major presence in Italy.
• Currently Alitalia is a member of the Skyteam Alliance (includes Air France-KLM), but due to not integrating its computer systems, it does not maximise the benifits. It also retains a 'foot in the door' with the Star Alliance (includes Lufthansa). Once the 25% Stake deal is signed, upgrading and profiling the Computer Systems has got to be a major priority.
• Getting Passengers to Fly Alitalia is also going to be a major problem. The frustration over the Airlines history of long delays, cancellations, poor in-flight service, and a 'take it or leave it' attitude when dealing with customers, is a major hill to climb, in regaining passenger loyalty.
• Although it no longer controls its Ground Handling and Heavy Maintenance operations, industrial action in these organisations will be just as crippling to the new Alitalia, as it was to the old one (70 Flights from Rome were cancelled due a Ground Handling Strike last Wednesday).
• Finally, the European Low Fares Airline Association filed a complaint with European Commission last Thursday over the €3 tax, levied since October on passengers leaving Italian airports under Italy's "Save Alitalia decree," amounted to €100 million of
  illegal state subsidies to Alitalia each year.

So will Alitalia Survive in the long term?
As an independent entity, probably not!
As the Italian Division, after been absorbed by a major European Carrier, probably yes!

Other Posts on Alitalia in this blog:
06th October 2008:
Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

13th September 2008:
Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

29th August 2008:
Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection

29th July 2008:
Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

Trade Unions and the BNP

Firstly, I will state that I have never been a member of any Political Party and in terms of my politics I am effectively in the centre, wavering slightly to the left, or slightly to the right depending on the issue.

Secondly, I was a member of a Trade Union for over a decade, with the result that I am extremely cynical and suspicious of British Trade Unions, although I still support the need for them.

Now the question is should a member of any extreme Political Party also be a member of a Trade Union?
Having watched in the past, with loathing and deep concern elements of the extreme left attempt to influence and control a mainstream Trade Union, perhaps the obvious answer is NO!

But that rule would disbar someone with strongly held Political beliefs from having a vote on issues that have a direct effect on their Pay and Conditions in a Unionised Company, so membership of a Political Party should not be a bar to membership of a Trade Union, or indeed Guild, or Staff Association.

Then again should the Trade Union Movement align itself with any Political Party, in my opinion NO!
But the reality is that the TUC is aligned with and provides major funding to the Labour Party and that is NOT going to change.

What apparently is being attempted is to allow Unions to disbar membership, or expel an existing member for being a member of a Political Party (Hang ON that is a major infringement of Civil Liberties).

So if I was member of any party then I could be barred from Union Membership?
Apparently so, but this is a targeted attack on the extreme right, in particular the BNP!

Whilst I find the BNP core agenda totally unacceptable, I also find the core agenda of the Extreme Left just as unacceptable, but for different reasons. However neither the British National Party (BNP), nor (for example) is the Socialist Worker Party (SWP) an illegal organisation. So why should membership of either bar membership to a Trade Union?

Well apparently the BNP is a special case because it is deemed Fascist as against the SWP which is merely an Anti-Capitalist Revolutionary Marxist Organisation. So one has Race and Immigration as part of its core agenda and the other wants to turn Britain into a Marxist State (which would certainly result in mass emigration, rather than illegal immigration).

So why has the BNP in particular become an issue inside Trade Unions and therefore because of its political clout with many Labour MPs, a Political Issue in Parliament?
Because the BNP is (unfortunately) doing rather well, especially among the rank and file members of several major unions and also has won council seats in some Labour held Parliamentary Constituencies.

The vehicle for changing the law to allow Unions to bar/expel those who are members of a political party the Union Leadership doesn't like, is the new Employment Bill. This is now back in the Commons after being amended by the Lords.
The rise of the BNP has produced 'fear uncertainty and doubt' in both the Unions and the Labour Party. Instead to tackling the reasons for this move of to an extreme right wing party, they are just trying to smother its ability to gain influence within the Union Movement.

The Unite Union Web Site puts its views as follows:
MPs and unions fight to protect right to expel extremists. Leading UK trade unions and MPs are pressing the Government to show leadership and act to protect unions from attack by extreme right-wing groups.

Fears are growing across the labour movement that unless the Government backs a series of key amendments to the Employment Bill as it enters its key Commons' stages on Tuesday (November 4th) trade unions will become highly vulnerable to infiltration from the BNP and the far right.

According to unions, Labour MPs and anti-fascist campaign group Searchlight, amendments to the Bill made during its Lords' stages must be overturned because they prevent unions from expelling people for membership of a political party, an issue that came to recent prominence when train drivers union Aslef fought for and lost the right to expel a BNP activist from their ranks. Further, the Lords' regressive changes come at a time when the BNP is a growing menace and seeking to extend its bases within Britain's communities.
End of Extract from Unite Web Site.

So the Unions want the right to expel extremists, which sounds reasonable, except this apparently will only be applied to the BNP and far right. Does this mean that the Trade Unions are concerned that so many of their members will become members of the BNP that they will overturn the current leadership at least at local level?
Apparently so!

But what is to stop a Union from applying this to members of other parties, Conservative, Liberal-Democrats, SWP, etc?
Apparently Nothing!

So who will define what is an acceptable Political Party to permit Union Membership?
The Union Leadership, because they know best. Oh really!

Trade Unions should only be concerned with protecting members pay, terms and conditions, plus in skilled trades the applicable standards, not the politics of individual members. But British Unions spend much of their time playing domestic politics rather than actually fulfilling their primary purpose.

Attempting to change the law purely because of Political expediency is almost as unacceptable as the policies of the BNP and SWP and impinges on the Civil Liberties that should be central to our democracy.

Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

Despite deadline after deadline being missed the Italian Government has cajoled, twisted arms and I suspected pleaded with the CAI Investors Group, the Unions and Foreign Airlines.

The result so far is an agreement with CAI Investor Group and the Unions, however it is now apparent that a minority stake of around 20%-25% by either Lufthansa, or Air France-KLM is required to make the rescue viable, at least in the short term.

So what is the Situation at the time of writing:

• A the non-core assets of Ground Handling, Heavy Maintenance, etc will be sold, or liquidated. I see this as the next major battle between the Italian Government and the Unions.
• More than 3.000 Redundancies in the Airline (probably 3,200). With those being made redundant being reployed into State owned industries, or direct Government Employment.
• 1bn Euro Investment by CAI Investor Group to purchase the 49.9% Italian Government Shareholding.
• Air One to be 'folded into' the new Alitalia. At a personal level I am saddened by this as the Staff and Management of Air One have worked so hard a building a safe, efficient and effective Commercial Airline.
• One question that doen't seem to have been answered, is how Alitalia continues to operate? The bankruptcy administrator (appointed by the Italian Government) has several times stated deadlines to start liquidation and has said that the end of September was a final cutoff date (See the related article on the 29th August: Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection)
  

On the surface little has changed since the original CAI Investor Group plan, formulated in late August and presented to the Unions in early September. Which after intensive talks was abandoned.
Whilst there has been a lot of tweaking on the subject of pay cuts and other terms and conditions, the major change has been the decision to bring in Foreign Investment, up to a quarter of the total Shareholding in the restructured Airline.

Back in July I wrote an article Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off? in which I noted that the change of Government, which forced Air France-KLM to abandon its Alitalia takeover, was a lucky escape for the French-Dutch Airline. So does a minority stake make sense, for either Lufthansa, or Air France-KLM?

Well, I have considerable doubts that the Unions will not start 'flexing their muscles' once the restructured Alitalia starts operating and that the new Airline will once again become commercially unviable (see my Article on the 13th September: Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?) But there are on the face of it sound reasons why both Lufthansa and Air France-KLM want to be part of the new Alitalia .

Lufthansa (which it appears is the favoured foreign investor) would bolster its already large presence in the Italian Market, plus the advantages of Timetable Integration, which it itself would provide tangible benefits .

As for Air France-KLM, it has watched with some dismay as Lufthansa has built its presence in the Italian Market and see a need to counterbalance this by using a stake in Alitalia. Having negated the Lufthansa's current advantages, the other gains would primarily Timetable integration, which has commercial/financial advantages. However for political reasons Air France-KLM is seriously disadvantaged as a bidder for a minority stake.

Both Lufthansa and Air France-KLM are both in 'Empire Building Mode' and in some cases are competing for stakes, or takeover of several Airlines. So far Lufthansa seems to have the upper hand in those areas where the interests of both overlap.

Meanwhile, sitting on the sidelines is British Airways, which is heavily involved in its ongoing talks to merge with Iberia. It has stated that it is not in the running to buy a holding in the new Alitalia, but has expressed a strong interest in more traditional commercial tie-in. How this could be achieved if either of its major European Rivals has a large minority stake is difficult to see.

Although it appears this is the start of the final act of this tragi-comic Opera, when Italian Politics is involved who knows!

Other Posts on Alitalia in this blog:
13th January 2009:
Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

13th September 2008:
Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

29th August 2008:
Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection

29th July 2008:
Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

The intial deadline for agreement between the Unions ansd those mounting a rescue plan was set for Thursday (11 September 2008) - This as I expected passed, because I thought the Unions would play the brinkmanship card until the after the deadline . But hope still appeared to linger as talks conntiued into Friday.

But finally Roberto Colaninno's CAI investor group ran out of patience abandoned talks to buy the state-owned carrier because of union opposition.

So where does this leave Alitalia?
The simple answer should be immediate cessation of operations. But that is of course commercial common sense, not something that can ever be assumed when a company is owned by the Italian Government and de facto controlled by nine Italian Unions.

The labour Minister was quoted as saying: "The situation is worrisome and getting worse" and followed this with "Alitalia won't be able to operate much longer if there aren't new developments". Well there is an understatement to say the least.

If this was a daytime Soap Opera, even the most hardened Soap Addict would consider the plot too surreal.

The Government Appointed Administrator it appears will not start firing staff immediately, which was previously his implied position if talks failed. But Alitalia will run out of funds at the end of the month and then at least in theory there is no choice company will be liquidated

But it is obvious the Unions in a total suspension of any understanding of reality still believe that a better deal will magically appear, Well this is Italy and suppose there might be divine intervention, but if there is it won't be based on any commercial logic.

Other Posts on Alitalia in this blog:
13th January 2009:
Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

06th October 2008:
Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

29th August 2008:
Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection

29th July 2008:
Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Alitalia has applied for bankruptcy protection whilst efforts to restructure the company continue. To this end administators will be appointed to oversee the process

In my previous post on this subject: Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?
I wrote:

Alitalia as currently constituted is NOT VIABLE. Without a massive downsizing both terms of routes, fleet, bases and therefore staff. A renegotiation of Ground and Aircrew contracts of the remaining staff, to bring these in line with commercial reality, not custom and practise, is also required, otherwise Alitalia will be forced to cease operations.

What I never expected was that, Roberto Colaninno the man appointed to take charge after the restructuring process would state the situation even plainer terms when talking to a journalist with La Repubblica newspaper:

"No one can buy Alitalia in the state it's in,"

He went onto say:

"With all respect, I am not Merlin the magician. The business is toast. It doesn't exist any more. There's nothing left."

Behind the scenes there has been a tremdous amount of 'deal making' going on with a group of Italy's most powerful families agreeing to a massive investment in a restructured entity. In Addition both Lufthansa and Air France continue to look into a post-structuring stake (which as it wouldn't be a take over any such investment would at least symbolically meet Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi precondition of any rescue deal that Alitalia's would contine to be Italian owned).

Talks with the Unions have been ongoing, but little has leaked out, except one of the Unions whilst accepting that huge job losses are inevitable wants the employees made redundant, given jobs with other state owned industries.
I suppose this would be progress of a sort, but the Unions really must wake up to simple facts:

• The job losses will be truly massive
• The inefficient customs and practises will have to go
• All worker groups will be affected whether Managers, Aircrew, or Ground Staff

Personally I still think the Unions assisted by certain Managers will cause Alitalia to self-desctruct, or at the very least make the restructured Airline as inefficient as the current incarnation and thus doomed to failure.
As I ended my last post on this subject, I shall end this one:
Alitalia please prove me wrong.

Other Posts on Alitalia in this blog:
13th January 2009:
Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

06th October 2008:
Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

13th September 2008:
Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

29th July 2008:
Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

In my many years in Aviation I have watched a number of truly Great Airlines with a proud and long history die.

Some have declined slowly like your favourite Grandparent, who when facing problems large and small, which in days past they would have shrugged off, now just hasten the terminal decline. But although you expected it, still when they go, it is a shock - Pan Am springs to mind.

In other cases they are first weakened whilst they adapt to changing marketplace and then attacked from inside as if by a virus caused by owners asset stripping without
caring for the future.

Despite this they struggle to recover, only to be taken over because they are now under capitalised and have no strength to resist - TWA is a classic case.

Then there is the new generation Management Board taking the family fortune and investing it unwisely. Swissair.

Then there was Sabena - Heavily Unionised and worse still the Unions not only extremely powerful, but unable to see the new realities.
Staffing rules both National and Union which made the ability to operate efficiently desperately difficult, both on the Ground as well as in the Air.

This coupled with internal warring between Management Factions, some who desperately wanted to push through the changes they saw as vital and those who really saw no need to change and wanted to continue operating in some hypothetical golden past.

Sabena was a National Airline living in the 1960's despite the approach of a new millennium.

The fact that Swissair chose to invest so much of its fortune in Sabena was amazing at the time and remains a source of wonder to me now.

Of course it managed to survive to 2001, but the writing was on the wall a decade before and whilst some in Sabena did read it and tried their best to implement change, they were up against powerful forces not just Unions who it appeared were determined to stop any change, but even some Senior Managment who refused to see the realities.

Now there is Alitalia. There are differences with Sabena, but there are far too many similarities.

Heavy Unionised with the Unions having the same myopic view.
Some powerful Managers who want change as long as of course their division is exempt.
Others who see change as not just vital but long overdue, but are stymied by not just Union Power, Collegue Oppostiion, and even more importantly Political and Government Interference/Intervention, which makes the Beligian Governments relationship with Sabena appear as a very 'light touch' indeed.

When Air France-KLM bid for Alitalia was successful, I saw a direct correlation with Swissair - Sabena. When the plan was scuppered by a change in Italian Government, I believe Air France-KLM had had a very lucky escape.

Alitalia as currently constituted is NOT VIABLE. Without a massive downsizing both terms of routes, fleet, bases and therefore staff. A renegotiation of Ground and Aircrew contracts of the remaining staff, to bring these in line with commercial reality, not custom and practise, is also required, otherwise Alitalia will be forced to cease operations.

But the Italian Government and the Unions want Altialia to change and yet be the same This is a dream which even those smoking opium would have problems with.
As it is obvious Italy has not learned the lessons of Sabena, it is just a matter of time before the EU (European Union) steps in and stops more Italian Government financial aid and within a few months the money finally runs out and Aitalia is no more.

I have been saddened by the failure of all the airlines mentioned, Alitalia becoming an aviation historical footnote appears inevitable as the changes required cannot be implemented and even if there was sudden change of heart I believe it is already too late.

Too often in my career I have made a written prediction which I hoped was wrong, but believed was right and unfortunately I have in the vast majority of cases been proved correct. Alitalia please prove me wrong.

Other Posts on Alitalia in this blog:
13th January 2009:
Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

06th October 2008:
Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

13th September 2008:
Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

29th August 2008:
Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection