Alitalia started bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in a decade, throwing the survival of Italy’s flag carrier in doubt after workers rejected job cuts and concessions linked to a 2 billion-euro ($2.2 billion) refinancing plan.
Shareholders voted unanimously to file for insolvency administration, the carrier said in a statement following a meeting on Tuesday. Under Italian law, the government will appoint supervisors to turn around the company or order its liquidation, and may provide stop-gap funds to maintain operations.
Alitalia, which was mainly backed by Abu-Dhabi based Etihad Airways PJSC, last week said it had exhausted all options to stay solvent after workers nixed a plan involving 1,600 job losses.