To save the struggling Italian company and find a solution to get out of this gridlock, the Italian government granted a new deadline, until May 31. The Italian executive has also granted Alitalia a new EUR 400 million bridge loan so that it can continue its activity, after a first loan of 900 million euros granted in 2017. The European Commission is conducting an investigation to check whether this first bridge loan complied with the EU State aid rules for companies in difficulty or not. The new loan of 400 million euros should also be scrutinized very carefully.

Meanwhile, the consortium that had been in discussion with the Italian government for months shattered. Indeed, one of its components, the Atlantia motorway and airport group — controlled by the Benetton group — indicated that the conditions were not met for it to join the Italian railways (FS or Ferrovie dello Stato), the U.S. airline Delta and the Italian Ministry of Finance. However, Delta is still in the race and said on November 12 to be willing to invest up to 100 million euros in Alitalia.

Very worried about this new setback, the employees of Alitalia called for the strike on December 13. The Italian Minister of Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli said “a solution will be found” for Alitalia. He even mentioned the possibility of nationalization.