Italy Weighing Candidates for New Alitalia Company

The Italian government is assessing several candidates to head a new state-controlled company to run failed carrier Alitalia SpA, newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore reported without saying where it got the information.

A leading candidate is former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV executive Alfredo Altavilla, the newspaper said, adding that no decision has been taken. The government is also considering switching Alitalia’s partnership to Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Star Alliance, abandoning a current tie-up with Delta Air Lines Inc. and SkyTeam, the paper said.

Italy, the euro area’s third-biggest economy, has been under a national lockdown since early March to counter the spread of the coronavirus. Flight cancellations across Europe have badly hurt airlines as revenue craters. Alitalia was seeking help before the crisis and has already cost the taxpayer more than 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust chief, said last month she’s “neutral” on Italy’s plans to nationalize Alitalia. She told reporters that approval for the proposed transaction could depend more on “the way it’s done” and “if it’s done at market prices,” which might be “quite low” in current circumstances.