Alitalia business plan takes a step forward

The board of directors of Italian airline Alitalia have agreed that a final adjusted business plan will be presented by the end of the month (March 2017).
The board met yesterday (Thursday) to hear a review from independent advisors Roland Berger on the airline’s proposed business plan.
The board was also presented with Alitalia’s financial situation by chief executive Cramer Ball. He explained that the company is in line with achieving at least €160m of cost savings in 2017, as announced at the January meeting of the board.
Deputy chairman James Hogan reaffirmed shareholder Etihad Airways’ "strong commitment" to support Alitalia’s turnaround plan and he said that Etihad and banking shareholders are fully aligned in working towards a successful future for Alitalia, although "challenges still remain to achieve a cost structure that will allow the company to remain competitive".