=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/08/24/f= inancial0815EDT0019.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, August 24, 2004 (AP) Alitalia chief says time running out for Italy's struggling airline (08-24) 05:15 PDT ROME (AP) -- State carrier Alitalia could be faced with collapse within 20 days witho= ut the approval a restructuring plan that would allow the airline to tap into a loan of 400 million euros ($488 million), the company's chairman was quoted as saying in Italian news reports Tuesday. The reports sent Alitalia shares tumbling 6.9 percent on the Milan market on Tuesday. In comments reported by Corriere della Sera, Alitalia chairman and chief executive Giancarlo Cimoli told unions that, without the restructuring plan and the loan, "Alitalia has 20 days of life left." According to Corriere and financial daily Il Sole 24-Ore, Cimoli also sa= id Alitalia's revenues for July and August were 17 million euros ($20.6 million) lower than expected, while passenger yields fell 2.5 percent in the first five months of the year. Alitalia's costs for carrying each passenger are 60 percent higher than those for budget airline Ryanair, based in Dublin, Ireland, according to the reports. Cimoli also blamed the poor results on a 11.5 percent absentee rates among company employees. In July, the European Commission approved Italy's 400 million euro rescue loan to cash-strapped Alitalia, saying more than 30,000 jobs were dependent on keeping the airline flying. The Commission said the loan should be limited to what was needed, while Alitalia drew up a liquidation or restructuring plan. Alitalia management is expected to hold contract talks with employees th= is week, and Cimoli met with union leaders Monday to discuss the issue. Alitalia has been struggling to stay aloft amid competition from discount carriers and consolidation among the big players. The airline, which is 62 percent-owned by the state, last achieved an operating profit in 1998. Earlier this month, the European Commission criticized Italy for using decades-old bilateral treaties to order European airlines to stop undercutting Alitalia on long-haul flights originating in Rome. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP