«I am a man from the South, and I want to help my land and my country»: he says it with conviction,Francesco Gaetano Intrieri,after having published two posts that leave no room for imagination on the near future of Italian aviation: the former consultant and close collaborator of the former ministerToninellihas in fact entrusted the announcement of the imminent launch of the new airline to the Facebook pagesAeroItaliawith an unmistakable writing, “Cooming soon…” where that “soon”, in English, is really very early: in fact the selections will already begin in January. And here is the heart of the second post by the professor, a very attentive connoisseur of the Italian reality when it comes to airplanes and companies and in the nascent company, of which he will be CEO, the focal point will be on the employees, and not on random employees but on the most , so to speak, "fragile", that is, as we read in the long post, «people in a clear and concrete state of need (for example single parents with dependent children and a single income will be the first to be selected and with the same professional values will have preference over others, as will people who have experienced precarious employment for years)". In short, no recommendations but a lot of meritocracy. A company that gives us hope: the shareholders are, in fact, important entities, just think that the Board of Directors includes German Efromovich, former owner of Avianca. Too good to be true, one might think, but it is Intrieri himself who proves the skeptics wrong.

Boeing 737 being painted. Photo by Gaetano Intieri

Let's start from the beginning: when will we start flying?
«I can tell you the estimated time to obtain the aircraft operator's license; I believe this is our goal by March."

Tight deadlines, but will there be personnel qualified for the machines?
«We will take pilots already qualified for the machines we have chosen».

Will it be a direct competitor of Ita?
«It is not to compete with Ita that we were born. We will do different things: we have a precise objective, defined costs, a thoughtful and competitive plan. And more than competition we will create an alliance. It certainly won't be a small company."

What will the investment be?
«One hundred million euros in the next 18 months».

They seem few…
"There are a lot of them if you know the job, more than enough to do important things."

What routes will be made?
«It will be a perfectly long-range carrier with particular attention to routes to South America».

What planes will they be?
«There is still confidentiality on this. We will say it when it is defined."

What company will it be? A Low Cost?
«It will not be low cost in the known sense, which is often misrepresented: our company will be low cost in the sense that there will be particular attention to operating costs through the implementation of a control model suited to the complexities of the business».

Your post focused mainly on human resources and the meritocratic method: how many hires do you initially imagine?
«First of all, they will all be competent people who come from the sector. I want to clarify this. From now until the end of 2023 we plan to hire 2/2,500 people."

And with what contract?
«They will be contracts in line with the market, respectful of the professionalism of the resources involved and which will be aimed more at how much you produce than at how much you take. For me, a pilot who flies 900 hours of FTL must be well paid just like an engineer or any productive resource, but if it is not productive, then even if you pay little for it, you haven't solved anything."

The dependents you are talking about are mainly in the south...
«I am a son of the south, I am of Calabrian origin. I want to help my land. If they make us work without putting a spanner in the works, the credibility of the shareholders all proceeds from the sector is truly a unique opportunity for Italian air transport."

Couldn't focusing on such particular employees be counterproductive?
«No, because those who have hit rock bottom do not risk losing their jobs. And in any case we will protect ourselves: in aviation if we focus on the social dimension, the black sheep will be the group that throws it out. And we will be careful of the smart ones who will not be admitted."

You have often spoken about Alitalia, and in 2020, as many as 7,000 Alitalia employees signed a petition to let you manage the company but you have always refused to be part of it.
«I refused three times. I couldn't have worked well there: I am a technician and when I asked the Minister of the time for certain conditions to accept, he understood that those conditions were not achievable, then I understood that nothing could change. Also because when you go to get involved in certain things, they don't let you do it: it happened to me when I worked for the State and after three months I left, after they brought up old stories to denigrate me. That's how it works when you shake things up."

Speaking of Alitalia, it is precisely the employees that have been unfairly pointed at this point.
«In Alitalia the problem has never been the employees, on the contrary.
The reasons why Alitalia burned money are not the employees. 650 million in management costs not characteristic of 2015 are there to demonstrate it for example. In 4 years, the extraordinary administration has burned a hyperbolic figure also considering the number of planes in the fleet, and do we want to blame the employees? But come on, let's be serious. Rather, as a citizen who pays taxes, I would like to know where the approximately 4 billion in public money wasted for nothing went. But stop pointing the finger at the employees and the problem is solved, so public opinion is calmed.

Everything is too good to be true: don't we risk disappointing those who are already disappointed enough?
«Too beautiful what? That there will be no recommendations, but everything will be transparent. It is an advantage for everyone and the hires will be evaluated objectively, according to the principle of putting the right person in the right place, drawing from the mega pool of former Alitalia, former Meridiana and other companies. Obviously those who aren't taken will be disappointed, but we can't take everyone."

Why did he come into play with this bet?
«Good question, I live on aviation, aviation is my life, for 10 years I said no to returning to managing an airline, my career in aviation really began at a young age, already under 30 I had positions of responsibility in the airlines where I worked and therefore 10 years ago I thought about dedicating myself more to working with the lessor I work for and to teaching at Sapienza which is something I love very much. But now I feel that this project is finally what I was looking for and I'm really proud to be part of it."

SOURCE:http://www.ilmattino.it