He flew comfortably on the scheduled Rome - Cagliari flight on Tuesday evening. Volotea's Airbus hosted him without asking him the reasons for the trip. In reality, the lawyer Giulio Napolitano, a surname as heavy as being the son of the President emeritus of the Republic, did not come to Sardinia for vacation. The mission in Sardinia was imposed by the top management of Ita, the former Alitalia, to unhinge the second tender, which attributed territorial continuity to and from the island to the Spanish company Volotea. Ita's lawyer had a clear mandate: to stop the assignment of flights to the Iberian company.
Napolitano & Chiomenti
An imposing presence was that of Napolitano, in the format of special consultant of the Chiomenti studio, because he was called to represent the same studio that first planned the territorial continuity for the Sardinia region, to then move on to the other side of the barricade, challenging the TAR the provisions of the regional administration itself. For the Region and the Tar judges themselves, the presence of the Ita lawyers was unexpected and in many ways incomprehensible given that on the first appeal they had all agreed to renounce the suspension and go directly to February for the merits. It seemed obvious to everyone that even on the second appeal, the one on the race that saw Volotea triumph, it would go directly to the merits. Instead, no.
Ita bellicosa
The landing of Ita in Sardinian land was bellicose, as if a treason had been consummated against the legacy of Alitalia. The tones of Ita's appeal, worse still Napolitano's plea, were very harsh. The dispute can be summarized: how did you dare to exclude Ita from a public competition? Without ever saying it explicitly, the lawyers of the state company made it clear that it was a public company and that in fact there was the history of Alitalia behind it. Too bad there was not a shred of completed document to certify it. The embarrassment of the overlapping of legal tasks, first of the Region and then of the State company, has led to a change of procedural strategy. Ita's lawyers were explicit: we want an immediate ruling from the TAR to suspend the award of the tender. The clash was titanic and very hard. In the corridors of the building in viale Trento the tones were already on before the Council Chamber began, presided over by the number one of the Tar Dante D'Alessio, with the Judge Rapporteur Tito Aru and Raffaelo Scarpato Referendary.
We are in Sardinia
At the impetuous pace of Professor Napolitano, before entering the classroom behind closed doors, the regional lawyer, Mattia Pani, replies with grace but firmness. The reaction is also recorded in the corridor: my colleague, I would advise you to change your tone and attitude because perhaps it is not clear to you that he has landed in Sardinia, not in the third world. Inside, the battle becomes harder, but technical. The regional advocacy reiterates a concept: Ita did not have airplanes, ENAC writes, and especially in this Region the tenders are not attributed on the basis of hearsay or position income. Napolitano attacks: the Region has banned the second race because he wanted to get a further discount and save. In practice, an operation to make money.
Without planes
Viale Trento's answer is written: the judges are asked to censor this very serious statement. Volotea's lawyers, Laura Pierallini and Ilaria Gobbato do not hold back: we deny the sender the accusations of not having the characteristics to manage this contract, the 42% reduction is the result of careful evaluations, functional to a correct management of the accounts. One thing is certain, Volotea concludes: Ita did not have airplanes because they did not exist in the aeronautical register. The judges will decide in the next few hours. Giulio Napolitano returned to Rome, still aboard the Volotea airbus. Pending the ruling of the Tar on the suspension, scheduled for today.