That this bid made it through the ‘screening process’ says as much about the problems at Alitalia (and the Italian government) as any lengthier analysis.
- An Italian high school aviation teacher earning 1,200 euros ($1,500) a month became a minor celebrity in Italy on Tuesday by slipping through a fake plan to buy ailing Alitalia as a protest against years of mismanagement.
“This was a provocation. It was my way of making a citizen’s protest,” said Fabio Scaccia, who teaches aerodynamics and aircraft design at a trade high school in the city of Frosinone just south of Rome.
When Italy’s Treasury Ministry announced the 11 expressions of interest to buy struggling Alitalia on Monday night, even the most well-connected business journalists were stymied by the number three entry: “Fabio Scaccia (individual)”.
No one knew who he was, perhaps because, in their high-flying world, he is a nobody.
“I read the papers. I saw the tender document on the internet. I saw the address (of the financial advisors) and sent in my expression of interest,” he told Reuters by telephone.
