Aer Lingus og Alitalia - Tøffe tider

October 10, 2013

Aer Lingus employees may have to take a reduction of up to a quarter on their pensions under a proposal by the fund's trustees, the Irish airline said on Thursday.
The proposal could upset Aer Lingus's attempts to plug a hole in the pension scheme and avert a possible strike, as unions want the airline to help make whatever contributions are needed to keep retirement benefits intact.
The pension scheme, which employees at Aer Lingus share with other aviation industry workers, had a deficit of over EUR€700 million (USD$947 million) at the end of 2011.
Trustees of the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (IASS) want Aer Lingus employees to take a cut of between 11 and 25 percent to their pensions, the airline said, adding it did not expect a final deal before the end of the year.
The airline's shares have been weighed down in recent years by the threat of a large pension payout.
The pension regulator rejected an earlier Aer Lingus proposal to make a one-off payment of EUR€140 million to the scheme.

Aer Lingus says it is not legally obliged to help fund the scheme, which covers both current staff and many former staff who have not yet reached pensionable age.

October 11, 2013

Alitalia was thrown a lifeline on Friday when its board members, including Air France-KLM, approved a capital increase as part of a government-led EUR€500 million (USD$678 million) bailout.
The agreement means Alitalia's planes can keep operating beyond the weekend, something that had looked in doubt after major creditor Eni threatened to cut fuel supplies unless the airline could show it had solid financial underpinning.
But with Alitalia, which last turned a profit in 2002, spending about EUR€10 million a day according to estimates, the new cash injection will not last long. It is regarded as a stop-gap solution before talks start with Air France on a possible combination of the two.
Italy's cash-strapped government only completed the emergency funding plan for Alitalia late on Thursday - after being turned down by several national companies - when it persuaded the state-owned post office to step in with EUR€75 million via a wider EUR€300 million capital increase.

If Air France-KLM, which has a 25 percent stake in the airline but is in the middle of its own restructuring, underwrites its full quota of the capital increase, it will provide another EUR€75 million.