http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...=55847378.blog

Alitalia to keep flying 'as long as there's money to pay for fuel'

Alitalia was still flying on Friday but the Italian flag carrier faced liquidation in a matter of days after a rescue plan collapsed." That's from Reuters, which adds "Alitalia has been operating under bankruptcy protection since the end of August and its special administrator is due to meet Italy's civil aviation authority ENAC on Monday to see whether it can retain its operating license." The Wall Street Journal writes that a spokeswoman for Augusto Fantozzi, the administrator, "said Alitalia is likely to keep running 'as long as there's money to pay for fuel,' which is about two weeks."

As for Monday's meeting to discuss Alitalia's operating license, an unidentified source at ENAC tells Reuters this morning: "From Monday if there is no news procedures will be started and within a week, 10 days at most, if there is no positive outcome Alitalia flights will be stopped." The Journal says Fantozzi has kept Alitalia operating "for weeks, … burning through the carrier's depleted cash reserves" while trying to give the Italian government enough time to put a rescue deal in place. The government appeared to have put together such a package, but the investors behind the effort withdrew their bid yesterday after they could not get the support from all of Alitalia's unions.

Now, the Journal says "without a deal in place, Mr. Fantozzi doesn't appear to have any choice but to shut down the airline -- a move that could paralyze the country's airports and put Alitalia's 18,000 employees out of work. But a shutdown would be so politically bruising that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may still try to come up with some 11th-hour gambit." On that note, The Associated Press says Berlusconi now faces "a tough challenge … and a potential blow to his popularity in the crisis of Alitalia ... . Berlusconi, who returned to power after winning April elections, has promised he would rescue Alitalia and keep it in Italian hands."

Alitalia has always seemed to teeter on the brink, but this latest drama appears to be one of the airline's closest brushes yet with collapse. And with that news, customers appear to be getting nervous about Alitalia's future. AP notes the Italian "railway company said Friday it had added two extra train rides between Rome and Milan — the most highly traveled air route in Italy — following increased demand." Reuters adds Alitalia "cancelled 20 flights at Rome's Fiumicino airport (today) but blamed that on normal operational reasons rather than a lack of cash to buy fuel … ."

Photo: An Alitalia worker listens to union leaders during a meeting at Fiumicino airport in Rome on Thursday. By Chris Helgren, Reuters.