Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-hand man on Wednesday met the consortium whose offer for Alitalia was withdrawn, amid speculation that the premier could pull off a last-minute deal to save the airline.
With the Thursday deadline looming for Alitalia to present a new rescue plan or lose its operating licence next week and see more than 19,000 workers sacked, Berlusconi cancelled a visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York to attend to the crisis.
Italian media reported revived interest from Lufthansa -- despite its repeated insistence it will not make a direct acquisition unless Alitalia's problems are resolved -- and, unexpectedly, from Venezuelan airline Aserca.
Berlusconi said the CAI consortium remained the only option, however, although Air France-KLM, British Airways, and Lufthansa could all take a minority stake if CAI succeeded.
Aserca, contacted in Caracas, denied the Italian media reports that it would come to Alitalia's aid.
Cabinet ministers, who had been gloomily saying there was little chance of a reprieve for the CAI offer due to union opposition, and that no buyers had emerged from among major foreign airlines, began to sound more upbeat.
"It's too much to talk about optimism, but you could say hopes have been revived," Transport Minister Altero Matteoli said, after Berlusconi aide Gianni Letta met CAI executives. Letta later met the three unions which had backed the deal.
The head of Italy's biggest union, the CIGL, which rejected CAI's conditions of 3,250 job cuts and downgrades in contracts, as did pilots and cabin crew, also said talks might be revived.
"If we sort out the things that were done badly in the rush, and pay attention not to the strongest but the weakest, a step forward could be taken," CIGL boss Guglielmo Epifani told local television, talking of "decisive hours" for Alitalia's future.
ITALY NEEDS FLAG CARRIER
Berlusconi, insisting Italy must "continue to have its own flag carrier", warned "there is no possibility of any foreign airline taking upon itself the burden and responsibility of all of Alitalia. This hypothesis doesn't exist and never has".
The media mogul returned to power in May promising to rescue the airline, which has not made a profit since 1999 and loses about 2 million euros a day. He rallied local investors behind a rescue bid but this was withdrawn last week.
In a final attempt at finding a buyer, special administrator Augusto Fantozzi has invited offers for all or part of Alitalia by Sept. 30, eliciting some interest in buying or leasing some aircraft and taking over, but not necessarily buying, slots.
British budget carrier easyJet said it could take over some domestic routes and one paper said Air France-KLM and Lufthansa would seek slots on the Rome-Milan route.
Alitalia has stuck to flight schedules despite the prospect of being grounded. Many domestic travellers have little choice but to fly Alitalia, but it is also a source of national pride.
An initial tender for the state's 49.9 percent stake by the previous centre-left government attracted 11 bidders who all pulled out.
A second attempt led to Air France-KLM being picked as buyer but the deal met opposition from unions and Berlusconi, who was campaigning for office and said Alitalia must stay Italian.