Since time immemorial, territorial continuity, air or sea, has always been "passed off" as a favour, a gift for Sardinia and for the Sardinians. The high-sounding titles have always spelled out the magic word in large letters: "discounts" on Sardinian routes. The declination has been pounding, so much so that over the years it has become obsessive: "discounted" rates, "reduced" rates, even "advantage" rates. The reality is, however, quite different. Territorial continuity, according to community rules, is neither an advantage nor a discount, but it is the rigorous recognition of equal conditions between citizens and the territories to be connected.
Rights, not discounts
Therefore, these are not discounted tickets, but tickets with equal rights and fair costs. It was the dominant culture of the airlines that made territorial continuity for Sardinia pass off as a kind concession, to be given with a dropper, as if we were at the end of the season sales. The new call for territorial continuity, the one whose participation expires on December 27th, is the son of that culture that transforms a sacrosanct right into a "gift". This time it is the Sardinian Region itself which, instead of affirming the principle of "fair" and "just" tariffs, is launching a tender based on very serious "racial" discrimination, such as that of "non-residents" in Sardinia forced to pay up to ten times more than the "resident" Sardinians, with incalculable damage to the island's economy. An unfair and speculative territorial continuity, capable of giving out sums of money that any careful and punctual tax investigation would have returned without a fight.
Gifts first
Compensation is the most delicate issue of this new territorial continuity, whose announcement published on 25 October is similar to the current one, capable of bringing Sardinia and air transport to its knees. It is the very timing of the tender that overturns the priorities: by 27 December the companies will have to make their offers on how to divide up around forty million euros in unjustifiable compensation, only later, by 31 January, will the companies themselves be able to apply to carry out the same service without compensation and without exclusivity. This is the absolute priority: dividing the compensation money, rather than carrying out the service without that money to be donated to the companies.
Reasonable profit
The Community law itself says so, article 16 of Regulation 1008/2008, in a clear and non-interpretable way: the cost of the ticket must be parameterized with respect to the real cost of the service, plus a «reasonable profit margin». The summary of the European provision is eloquent: in the sections subject to the "imposition of the public service charge" one does not speculate, one does not earn with both hands, but only a "reasonable profit margin" can be obtained. To clarify, it would be enough to see the calculation of the costs of the service, from personnel to the depreciation of the planes, from fuel to insurance, from maintenance to handling. Adding up the "reasonable" business profit of 4.7%, we realize that those compensations are out of place, a gift from every point of view. Yet, systematically, the State, the Region and the variegated "protectorate" system of the airlines continue undaunted to support the compensations, ignoring that the same companies have repeatedly agreed to carry out the service without receiving them. It is on this issue, that of money donated with both hands, first by the State and now by the Region, that the European Commission has repeatedly underlined the clear risk of undue "state aid".
Single rate costs less
The single tariff, for "residents" and "non-residents", the one in force for almost 9 years, from 2013 to 2021, cost absurdly much less than what territorial continuity limited to residents only costs today. It would be enough to respond to this evidence to understand that the current tender and the one already launched constitute a serious and delicate "vulnus" on the legitimacy of this path. To this is added an element that will not have escaped other authorities, in relation to what could be configured as a real interruption of public service. Both Ita and Volotea, in fact, should have carried out the continuity service until May 14, 2023.
The "rescission" vulnerability
Out of the blue, and simultaneously, the two companies communicated a unilateral "rescission" of that public service assignment. In any public administration such behavior would have been heavily sanctioned. In this case, however, only silence. The result of that sudden renunciation, however, was eloquent: the Region with a "perverse" predilection for chaos in the skies has done nothing but reiterate the same ban that was and is causing an unprecedented disaster in air transport. The first question on this matter is consequential: are Volotea and Ita entitled to participate in a public tender despite the unilateral interruption of a contracted service until May 2023? The detail is not trivial, given that according to the consequences of that interruption, the Region had easy justification in re-announcing the same tender, without rewriting a new territorial continuity, this time serious, fair and non-discriminatory.
Gray area
It is a real gray area: the Region, in fact, has entrusted the writing of the tender, the first and consequently also the second, as it is analogous, to a law firm which turned out to be the same one that took the defense of Ita in the clash with Volotea in the Tar Sardinia office. A conflict of interest clamorously emerged in one of the hearings before the Administrative Court of Cagliari, which, however, does not appear to have been followed by any public deed of the Region reporting to the competent bodies, if only because of the seriousness, at least administrative, of the fact . A law firm lavishly paid by the Region, 145,000 euros in fees, to write the airline continuity of the Sardinians which then, however, takes sides in defense of the interests of one of the two competing airlines. The result of that announcement is before everyone's eyes: few flights, stratospheric prices, with the Region forced into continuous humiliation to beg for a few more seats for Christmas and New Year's. Basically a bankruptcy territorial continuity, without half measures. It was understood, if it were still needed, that, in the absence of stringent tender specifications, the companies have only one objective: to speculate on Sardinia's insularity.
Break the chains
There is only one way to stop this perennial disaster: putting in place an immediate deterrent, without wasting time: an "in house" solution, i.e. entrusting a totally public airline, could be that of the Italian Post Office, the task of overcoming the emergency phase, in order not to be cornered by the new speculators of the Sardinian skies. Willing, in this case, is power.