Olympic Staff Vow to Fight Sell-off

Greek opposition groups and trade unions promised yesterday to fight the conservative government's decision to liquidate and relaunch the country's national carrier, Olympic Airlines.

Announcing a series of sit-ins, demonstrations and legal moves, unions pledged to fight "a mother of all battles" to stop the sell-off.

Branding the plan a crime against the Greek people, opposition transport spokesman Nikos Sifounakis said: "It is a huge mistake ... 6,500 employees stand to lose their jobs because the conditions of this scheme are so painful. We will give our support to all these protests."

The restructuring of Olympic, which has been in the red almost since the shipowner Aristotle Onassis sold it to the Greek state in the 1970s, is seen as the cornerstone of the center-right government's efforts to modernize one of Europe's most statist economies, and would end years of wrangling with Brussels.

As the EU's last wholly state-owned airline, the carrier is believed to lose close to half a billion euros a year. Attempts by successive governments to privatize it have run up against the stiff resistance of employees linked to its 17 unions.

Last night, Olympic's 490 pilots vowed to stage action. This year they began reading proclamations to passengers in mid-flight deriding the privatisation plans.

Under the plan, Olympic will be closed with some assets being sold to a new private company, codenamed Pantheon, which will keep both its name and symbolic five-ringed Olympic logo. Two further companies will be created to assume control of the carrier's ground-handling and maintenance.