Some 2,000 Alitalia job cuts (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 17 - The new plan to turn around struggling Italian airline Alitalia features around 2,000 job losses among ground staff, sources said Friday. The plan also entails the hiring of 500 flight personnel - cabin crew and pilots - in 2019. It also will see the former flag carrier buy eight new aircraft in 2019, on top of one that went into use last month, for around 10 new long-haul routes. Trade unions representing Alitalia workers said Friday that they will stage a one-day strike on April 5 after a meeting with management on the plan. "We confirm the strike, it will be on April 5," said Claudio Tarlazzi of the UIL Trasporti union. Alitalia said Friday that 40% of its national and international flights scheduled for Monday will be cancelled due to industrial action by some unions representing air-traffic controllers. Several unions are set to take action between 13:00 and 17:00 while that CUB Trasporti union is set to strike all day.