Integration to the Shifts is Delayed
This was a communication that was anything but reassuring. Among other things, salaries are very low, even only 100 euros, because about 7,000 employees are in rotating shifts, due to the reduced number of flights. The workers report that the payment of the integration to the shifts (which covers 80% of their actual salary received before COVID) by the Air Transport Support Fund is late. The last payment made dates back to the July competences. On the other hand, the shifts base, which is about a thousand euros gross per month for those who are in cash for the whole month, is paid by the INPS, without delay according to the workers’ reports.
ITA Wages Fall Short of the Norm
The salary proposed by ITA (Italia Trasporti Aereo) becomes the new front of battle between the unions and the top management of the company which intends to take the place of Alitalia in mid-October. But the battle over pay is a war of figures where each party offers – depending on convenience – the worst or most “sweetened” scenario. An analysis by Corriere della Sera on the payrolls of the pilots of eleven European airlines before and after the arrival of the coronavirus shows how the truth lies somewhere in between, with a new company that plans to pay commanders initially with figures 14% lower than the industry average.
Two Versions of the New Brand Value
To ignite the debate is a launch by the AdnKronos agency with the numbers provided by the unions on the salaries of the new company. Those estimates – taken from various Italian newspapers – denounced that ITA’s salaries were 55% lower than those of Alitalia, 45% lower than those of Ryanair, and even 58% lower than those of Air France. Not true according to the leaders of ITA – the President, Alfredo Altavilla, and the CEO, Fabio Lazzerini, – explained in front of the parliamentary committees that “the salaries of ITA employees are absolutely aligned” and “in some cases even higher than those of other traditional carriers such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and Iberia.”
Different Voices
According to the experts consulted by the Courier, making comparisons between the salaries of the pilots is very difficult. Not only because salaries vary according to length of service, the role (commander, first officer), the routes taken (domestic, international, intercontinental flights), but also because each carrier provides for different items in the paycheck that are added to the fixed and variable part strictly related to the flight hours, such as bonuses, food and accommodation, performance bonuses, private insurance, severance pay, and any other benefits, not to mention the role on the one hand of the cost of living in the workplace (Amsterdam is more expensive than Rome) and the exchange rate of currencies.
Anti-COVID Agreements
In the last year and a half, internal agreements have intervened with salary cuts that vary. The Portuguese company TAP, for example, has decided on reductions of 50% in 2021, 45% in 2022, 40% in 2023, and 35% in 2024. Other reductions, however, are almost automatic: COVID and its restrictions have affected the variable component of pilots who flew less. That is why, given the complexity, the Courier has decided to make a comparison only on the pay slips of the commanders before and after COVID, mitigating the impact of the various salary items as much as possible, taking into account the company agreements to overcome the pandemic. The numbers were then evaluated with financial records, employees, human resources managers in carriers, and specialized databases.
Alitalia Versus Other Low-cost Airlines
What do the numbers say, even if they are not definitive? That the monthly salary of an ITA commander (about 8,600 euros gross, adding the base and variable) would be 31% lower on average than one of Alitalia (about 12,500 euros) before the arrival of the coronavirus. The paycheck of ITA then, would be not far from the salaries of Wizz Air and TAP after COVID. The Portuguese company, among other things, is always taken as an element of comparison with ITA for the size of the company and its network of connections. Comparing the salary of ITA with the average of the eleven carriers analyzed (about 10 thousand euros) – again post pandemic and gross per month – this is 14% lower. On the other hand, that of an Alitalia commander compared to the pre-pandemic European average was 5.5% lower. ITA has been explaining for some time that a 15% result bonus should be added to the salary, which would be triggered upon reaching the company’s profitability. A mid-July note spoke of “an operational breakeven to be achieved by the third quarter of 2023.”
ITA on the Announcement for the Brand
On Friday, September 24, the ITA Board of Directors gave the green light to the new company to participate in the tender for the sale of the Alitalia brand.
One Final Accusation
Italian airports claim that Alitalia did not pay 100 million due to them in the last year.
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