Italy: Unions under fire as Air France-KLM pulls out of Alitalia takeover

On 21 April 2008, Air France-KLM withdrew its offer to buy Alitalia, the financially stricken Italian airline, after failing to reach an agreement with trade unions on job losses following the proposed takeover.

Air France-KLM had made its bid to buy a 49.9% share in Alitalia, which is currently largely owned by the Italian state, conditional on reaching agreement on its restructuring plans with the Italian unions representing the airline’s staff.