ROME, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Italian airline Alitalia has reached an agreement with its cabin crews, completing negotiations aimed at avoiding the threat of collapse.
The airline had to secure a deal with unions in order to benefit from a $490 million government loan, the BBC reported Saturday.
Under the agreement, 900 of the airline's sought 1,050 cabin crew jobs will be lost. The number of cabin crew on medium-haul flights will be cut from four to three, and the crew will log more hours.
Alitalia is under threat of running out of funds within the month, making it imperative that the company seals negotiations before Monday's board meeting.
The company had already agreed a settlement with ground staff and pilots. Cabin crew were expected to sign their part of the agreement Saturday. The ground staff deal yielded about 2,500 job cuts. A total of 3,700 jobs will be cut across the airline, which had had originally sought to fire 5,000 workers.
