Waiting three months for a rescue plan for Alitalia would force the ailing Italian airline out of business, Labor Minister Roberto Maroni said on Monday.
"The situation was already dramatic, and today it can only be worse," Maroni said on the sidelines of a meeting in Milan. "Keeping Alitalia waiting for three months would be condemning it to closure."
Over the weekend, Maroni said job losses at the loss-making airline could be considerably more than figures already mentioned, adding there was the risk of a "social bomb".
In a statement quoted by Italian newspaper La Stampa on Monday, Alitalia said its 2004-08 industrial plan would not be ready "before two or three months", adding that all details debated ahead of the official blueprint were "pure speculation".
State-controlled Alitalia is looking to create a restructuring plan to save it from bankruptcy.
