ITA/ The unions' demands ignore the company's situation
The unions are protesting against the approval of Ita's industrial plan: they would have wanted wage increases that the company cannot now afford.
Heat is returning to Ita Airways , following the Board of Directors' approval of the industrial plan through 2030 on July 30. And it is once again making itself felt by the unions, who did not particularly appreciate being left out by the board on the issues closest to their hearts, namely the contract and union permits.
The company's 2026-2030 Industrial Plan is structured around three fundamental strategic directions:
Strengthening its competitive position – ITA Airways intends to consolidate its position as a leading Italian carrier, efficient and innovative, ensuring high-quality connectivity in synergy with the main sectors of tourism and international trade. Offering excellent service to business and leisure customers will be central to the company's strategy, with a constant focus on economic, social, and environmental sustainability through responsible resource management.
Network and Fleet Development – The Plan envisions growth, particularly in the long-haul sector, and the expansion of intercontinental destinations departing from the Rome Fiumicino hub. Increased connectivity will also be ensured through commercial agreements and strategic partnerships with other carriers. At the same time, the fleet renewal process will continue, aimed at increasing energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact, in line with the company's sustainability commitments and in compliance with EU regulations, which, among other things, prohibit the availability of free ETS allowances. At the end of the plan period, the fleet of approximately 100 aircraft will consist almost entirely of next-generation aircraft.
Consolidation in the Lufthansa Group – The idea is to leverage belonging to the world's fourth-largest airline group as a strategic lever to capitalize on significant operational, commercial, and technological synergies, fostering greater competitiveness, access to new markets, and ongoing innovation in passenger services.
And it's the fleet that the union has focused its fire on, deeming the (unshared) industrial plan inadequate, with largely insufficient investment and growth, and the slow pace of contract renewal. Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl Trasporto Aereo, Anpac, and Anp have bluntly declared war on Ita, stating that "without a change of pace, it will be a hot autumn."
The union also laments the lack of a planned discussion on the merits with the trade unions representing the more than 5,000 workers whose sacrifice and professionalism allowed the company to thrive. The union believes this represents yet another serious lack of respect from management toward ITA Airways workers. This development comes on top of the slow and inconclusive negotiations over the renewal of the national collective bargaining agreement, which expired on December 31, as well as the unproductive discussions on the numerous management issues.
Let's try to understand what the underlying issues are and why the unions are so furious about the board's approval of the industrial plan.
First of all, it should be emphasized that the unions had leaked that they wanted a 25-30% increase in wages and that the cutoff point, a sort of Piave line that they could digest, would have been a 15-17% increase.
Ita's response was appropriate, cryptic, and extremely clear: the company is currently neither profitable nor balanced, it is still running a loss, and until the carrier becomes productive, wage increases and union agreements are out of the question.
The reason why Ita cannot afford to raise wages or provide greater benefits to the unions today is clear and lies in the choice made at the time by Alfredo Altavilla and later endorsed by Fabio Lazzerini, the carrier's former CEO, regarding part of Ita's fleet, namely the Airbus A220s.
These planes, in fact, have caused more trouble than anything else, especially during engine maintenance. Suffice it to say that at the moment, ITA has almost always between 7 and 9 of these aircraft grounded. EgyptAir recently got rid of these planes by selling them en masse (12 aircraft) to Azor, which purchased them for the modest residual sum of 300 million dollars.
Reaching 100 aircraft is the target of ITA's industrial plan, but all 100 must be able to fly to generate any profit for the company. Much will also depend on maintenance, a particularly hot topic, and one in which Atitech is in a strong position thanks to a particularly favorable contract for managing ITA's fleet maintenance. To make the company profitable, this situation will obviously have to change one way or another.
So, for the unions to want to get something from ITA today, knowing full well what the critical issues are, and threatening "hot autumns," seems very odd, and it seems like we're back to the days of Alitalia. Only then, the unions, through threats of strikes, managed to obtain more and more, until at a certain point the company went under.
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