Alitalia

Air France’s conditions for the takeover, mentioned here a couple of days ago, are emerging. A couple of thousand redundancies, downgrading of Malpensa airport (the one near Como which describes itself as Milan), far fewer planes, agreement of the trade unions required. It will make difficult reading for many, although my analysis is that it isn’t tough enough to make the thing viable without EU support.

Having advised Silvio Berlusconi to keep his mouth shut during the Alitalia crisis I suppose I should be disheartened by his latest riposte. But it is vintage Berlusconi.

He says the government have sold Alitalia short, and he would back the AirOne consortium. So much so, indeed, that he would ‘make a sacrifice’ personally if it weren’t for the fact he might be accused of acting in his own interest. As it is he is sure his sons would be interested (his sons act quite independently of him, oh yes) to go in as equal partners with the other members (which include Banca Intesa).

So he offers some support to his ally Bossi who is fighting the closure of Malpensa; he puts his opponent Veltroni in a difficult spot; he acts the father of the nation, sacrificing his own money for the national good; he has a little go at his many accusers, implying they prevent him from helping Italy, and he furthers his campaign by appealing to the basest chauvinistic interest. And he – sorry, his sons - will probably turn a profit out of it. Silvio really is a Master.

Keeping Alitalia as a cosy Italian deal without anyone experiencing any pain would almost certainly not be in the national interest but who in Italian politics gives a stuff about that?