Conditions are not in place for an investor consortium to be established to save Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino), Italian state-owned rail group Ferrovie dello Stato admitted on November 20, the day before a deadline to submit a binding offer for the struggling flag carrier. Alitalia is expected to run out of money by the end of 2019.

The comments were made in a press release as the board of Ferrovie, the plan's main sponsor over the last 13 months, met to take stock of the positions of the partners involved in the negotiations. The observations suggested that the rescue plan was faltering, the newspaper Il Messaggero reported, coming a day after infrastructure group Atlantia said it was not ready to join the consortium.

However, economic development minister Stefano Patuanelli still believes "there is a margin" in negotiations with Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International). A new deadline extension, the eighth, is now likely from the administrators who have been running the airline since May 2017, Il Messaggero said. This could be around 20 more days, on the condition that the entire operation is wrapped up by March 2020.

Delta has "confirmed its willingness to participate in the equity of the new company", Ferrovie dello Stato said in its press release. It has suggested investing EUR100 million (USD111 million) in return for a 10% stake in Alitalia. Lufthansa has "proposed the availability of a commercial agreement, but not an immediate entry into the equity of the new Alitalia", Ferrovie added.

As for itself, Ferrovie dello Stato said it was still committed to talks to save Alitalia but that it was now waiting for indications from administrators over what measures to take.

Delta said in an emailed statement to Reuters on November 20: “Our interest and vision have been well expressed to Ferrovie dello Stato and Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development. We are open to working with other parties to develop a coherent, like-minded consortium of investors.”

Meanwhile, revenues are increasing at Alitalia, which will close November with a rise of between 5.5% and 6%, while in December revenue growth will be 7%, according to Fabio Lazzerini, the carrier's chief business officer. He assured that “today Alitalia has not recovered but is better than before”.