Air France-KLM to take on Alitalia staff

Air France-KLM has agreed to take on about 900 more employees of Alitalia's ground services unit than planned to secure its takeover…

Air France-KLM has agreed to take on about 900 more employees of Alitalia's ground services unit than planned to secure its takeover of the struggling Italian carrier, Reuters reported.

Air France-KLM is seeking to overcome stiff resistance from Alitalia's unions, which have protested at the French-Dutch airline's plans to slash or exclude a third of the workforce.

Under its new plan, Air France-KLM would retain 4,191 workers out of about 7,400 employees at Alitalia's troubled AZ Servizi ground services unit, compared with 3,300 in an earlier proposal. It then plans to cut 500 positions from those taken on.

Air France-KLM also wants to reduce Alitalia's 51 per cent stake in the unit.

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Alitalia's major unions meet later today to discuss the new proposal. Talks between unions and management resume on Monday.