Air France-KLM said Tuesday it would go the extra mile to allay union fears over the company's proposed takeover of Alitalia when it makes a new offer for the airline on Friday.
Air France-KLM President Jean-Cyril Spinetta will meet with union chiefs to present a plan he described as ''solid, very precise and very detailed'' that includes the transfer of 60 Alitalia pilots to Air France every year between 2008 and 2010 to reduce layoffs resulting from the takeover.
Spinetta also said he was prepared to continue discussions beyond the deadline of March 31 to approve or reject the merger following union requests.
Alitalia's share price rose by 32% after Spinetta announced the concessions.
But pilots' union chief Massimo Notaro said Air France-KLM was still far from resolving the layoff issue.
''If the offer is for young pilots who speak French, who decide to transfer, and who have to go through the selection process for Air France from scratch, then it's something our pilots could do on their own - it's not a concession,'' he said.
''Air France needs pilots like that in the same way they are needed across the world''.
Unions have been holding fast in their opposition to the Air France-KLM merger unless an estimated 2,100 layoffs and new timetables can be re-negotiated.
Last week centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi branded the Air-France KLM offer as ''arrogant and unacceptable'' and called on Italian businessmen and banks to club together to buy Alitalia.
Italy's biggest private carrier, Air One, with financial backing from Banca Intesa, lost out to Air France-KLM in December as Alitalia's preferred talking partner in exclusive negotiations for the Treasury's 49.9% controlling stake in the national carrier.
After trying and failing in court to stop the Alitalia-Air France-KLM talks, Air One promised to present a new offer.
However, no such offer has been made despite the government's assurance that all viable offers would be taken into consideration.
Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa warned last week that if the Air France-KLM offer did not win approval the only alternative would be to place Alitalia in receivership.
Many observers believe that receivership would be much worse for Alitalia and its staff than merging with Air France-KLM.
Once in receivership, Alitalia would have to first have to stop accumulating debts, which it currently does at about a million euros a day, and this would entail cutting spending in four key areas: leasing aircraft, buying fuel, insurance and salaries.
According to one hypothesis, reducing leasing and fuel costs would ground 50 out of the 174 planes Alitalia currently operates, eight more than the reduction envisioned in the Air France-KLM plan.
This in turn would force a drastic reduction in staff, some 3,000 pilots and cabin crew and another 2,000 ground service and maintenance staff for a total of 5,000, more than double the 2,100 layoffs contained in the Air France-KLM plan.
Alitalia would then be put up for liquidation and its assets, including planes, routes and slots, sold to help pay off the airline's debts of some 1.4 billion euros.
