Alitalia has a chance of Air France-KLM coming back to the table despite the rejection of the Franco-Dutch giant's takeover plan by the Italian carrier's unions, the Italian government's pointman on the case said Thursday.
''Air France-KLM's door may reopen,'' outgoing Cabinet Secretary Enrico Letta said.
But he cautioned: ''We're in a china shop and any move could break everything''.
As Letta was talking, union protesters threw a model of an Alitalia plane into the nearby Trevi Fountain. It sank.
Letta said the government would take an ''active role'' in a bid for ''a second chance''.
''A deal is possible. We mustn't squander this opportunity,'' he said.
The cabinet secretary denied saying, as earlier reported, that the government had a new plan ''to persuade'' Air France.
Letta said Air France was sticking to the plan rejected by unions. He said it was a ''good plan'' and could be signed if union resistance was overcome.
After talks with Letta and two ministers Friday, unions reiterated calls for lay-off proposals to be eased and urged the government to help talks take off again by providing a ''bridging loan''.
The European Union has already warned the state can put no more money into the ailing airline.
Unions are set to meet with airline management on Tuesday, after the general election, to examine the airline's options.
Letta said that, in the meantime, the government would put out ''feelers'' to both sides, seeing if there might be some wiggle room.
Outgoing Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi said the government was ''politically committed'' to ''rebuilding relations with Air France'' but stopped short of making any concrete commitments.
Outgoing Industry Minister Pierluigi Bersani said the government could not take a direct role as mediator.
Bianchi said the government would try to ''round off the angles'' before next week's meeting, referring to the unions' sticking points.
Despite the lack of real movement from the meeting, Alitalia shares rose by more than 1%.
Bianchi has warned that the only alternative to a deal with Air France-KLM is bankruptcy.
By initially rejecting the Air France-KLM takeover offer, the minister observed, ''the unions did not realise that they had gone a step too far''.
Alitalia unions rejected the takeover offer, which involved buying the Treasury's 49.9% controlling stake in the carrier, because of planned layoffs for 2,100 employees and the proposed downsizing of the airline's activities in the air and on the ground.
''The government is ready to do its part by earmarking funds for (Milan airport) Malpensa and will intervene to overcome obstacles to the acquisition of the national carrier by Air France-KLM,'' Bianchi said..
As for a hypothetical offer by a consortium of Italian investors - mooted again by rightwing politicians Thursday - the transport minister said ''we must not fool ourselves into believing that such a miracle alliance exists; it is just an illusion''.
''If such a consortium existed it would have stepped forward much earlier, given that it would have been composed of serious businessmen who were ready to shell out some real cash and not just blow out a lot of hot air,'' Bianchi explained.
The Alitalia board met on Tuesday and verified that at the end of March the carrier has 170 million euros in cash and cash credits for another 69 million euros.
This should be enough to keep the troubled airline operating in the short term, at least until a new Italian government can be formed.
Because of strict European Union regulations, Alitalia can receive no further state aid or loans unless it strikes a strategic alliance with another carrier which could guarantee the credit.
In the event that Alitalia goes into receivership, it could receive aid through the so-called Marzano Law which helps troubled enterprises to restructure and return to profit.
Alitalia has debts in the neighborhood of 1.5 billion euros and continues to lose around a million euros a day.
