Gubitosi, Laghi, Paleari for Alitalia (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, May 2 - Managers Luigi Gubitosi and Enrico Laghi and air transport expert Stefano Paleari are to be the commissioners handling the extraordinary administration of Alitalia, the industry ministry announced Tuesday as it approved a decree putting the loss-making former flag carrier into administration. Gubitosi, a former director-general of RAI State broadcaster, will run the company while Laghi, an extraordinary commissioner for troubled steel group ILVA, will take care of relations with the government and legal issues, they said.
    Paleari, named by the transport ministry, is an engineer, university lecturer and expert in air transport, as well as president of Human Technopole, the high-tech hub to be created at Milan's former EXPO site.
    As well as approving the extraordinary administration, the government was set to OK a 330-400-million-euro bridge loan to keep Alitalia flying in the coming months.
    Earlier Tuesday Etihad CEO James Hogan expressed regret after it joined other Alitalia stakeholders in approving a request for the troubled Italian airline to be put into extraordinary administration. "We did everything in our power as a minority shareholder to support Alitalia, but it's clear that the company needs deep restructuring on a vast scale to survive and grow in the future," Hogan said. "Without the support of all the stakeholders in this restructuring process, we cannot continue to invest".
    Etihad Airways of the UAE bought a 49% stake in Alitalia with a deal reached in 2014.
    "The strategy initially developed by Alitalia at the time of Etihad's investment and implemented from 2015 onwards led to significant improvements," Hogan said.
    "Our investments, together with those of the other shareholders, helped to protect thousands of jobs over the last three years.
    "Italy remains an important market for us and we will continue to work with Alitalia as a commercial partner, in addition to our direct presence in Italy".