Dozens of flights canceled after Alitalia flight attendants call in sick ROME (AP) =97 Alitalia, Italy's struggling airline, canceled dozens of=20 flights Sunday after flight attendants, upset about a cost-cutting move=20 they fear will cost some of their jobs, called in sick in large numbers for= =20 a second straight day. Alitalia had announced that starting in June it was= =20 cutting back on the number of attendants on domestic flights, from four to= =20 three, and next month on the number of attendants on European flights.=20 Italian state TV reported Sunday night, that, after an appeal from the=20 Italian government, Alitalia indicated it was backing off from the=20 reduction. The government, which owns half of the airline, summoned both=20 Alitalia and union officials to a meeting on Wednesday. Thousands of=20 passengers waited hours for flights Sunday, only to be told they weren't=20 going anywhere. Last month, the airline's chief executive, Francesco=20 Mengozzi, said Alitalia must merge and slash costs to survive. Alitalia,=20 like many other airlines, has been hard hit by travelers' reluctance to fly= =20 because of fear of terrorism and of the SARS virus. The Iraq war also hurt= =20 airline business this spring. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************