The many mysteries of a denied air continuity

A truck driver has been reported for driving a semi-trailer on the Sassari-Olbia highway while drunk.

Reasons for exclusion

At issue in that case would be article 80 of the Procurement Code in relation to the grounds for excluding a company from a public tender, starting from possible serious deficiencies in the execution of a previous contract. If that interruption, albeit announced a few months in advance, were to reveal sufficient reasons for an exclusion from the tender, both Volotea and Ita could "jump" for the same reason. In that case, the Region not only would have omitted a preventive verification of this hypothesis, but would have to take note of the lack of two companies in the management of territorial continuity.

Guarantor & Chivalry

Passing that renunciation into "cavalry", without even making the "simultaneous" letters of the two companies public, and even denying the investigation by the Competition and Market Authority on possible commercial agreements, would mean having fully endorsed the behavior of the companies. In this case, the Region would already have a duty to build a "life preserver" for territorial continuity, perhaps asking and proposing to the Government not useless pats on the back or empty promises, but a public solution for the management of a transitional period, the one necessary to secure a public service of this importance for Sardinia.

Stop in self-defense

In this case, among the hypotheses, there could be that of canceling the tender in the self-protection phase, due to the obvious inconsistencies and violations of the law in the procedures, as well as the non-existent congruity of the tender specifications, see the discounts proposed by the companies until 75%. At that point, the Region could ask the State to deploy a public company, Poste Italiane for example, which already has renewable authorizations for the air transport of passengers, resorting to aircraft available on the rental market, such as to be able to fully satisfy the needs of the island, up to the rewriting of a new continuity.

Public alternative

Hypothesis that requires not only a precise political will not to give in to the blackmail of the airlines, but also the ability to prepare everything quickly and effectively. However, these elements did not always emerge in the management of this match, quite the contrary. To the chapter on the admissibility of carriers and any public alternative necessary to manage the matter, another decisive element is added, put forward by AeroItalia in the press release announcing its intention to appeal to the TAR also to cancel the call for tenders. In this case under accusation is the procedure followed by the Region which, incomprehensibly and in contrast with European standards, first announced the tender rather than requesting in advance the acceptance of the public service obligation, without compensation and without exclusivity. Point 73 of the European guidelines on the matter makes the European rationale on territorial continuity and the establishment of the public service obligation very clear. The timing is stark and clear: "If before or during the tender process an air carrier establishes scheduled air services in accordance with the PSO or demonstrates that it is preparing to establish sustainable services of this type (but without requesting compensation or an exclusive right ), the tender procedure should be canceled and access to the route should remain open to competition.'

The turnaround of the race

Therefore, it is all too clear that having carried out the tender first was an unprecedented forcing, given that in Olbia, for example, two out of three companies, Volotea and AeroItalia, have already declared, after the tender, that they want to carry out the service without any compensation and without exclusivity on those routes. Finally, there is a passage that could lead to new appeals: the failure to provide for the "single tariff" in the contract. This time the injured parties would be all those who are forced to pay return tickets from Rome and Milan to Sardinian airports to come to Sardinia, with costs up to ten times more than those reserved for residents.

Total discrimination

An unprecedented discrimination that goes from Sardinian emigrants to tour operators, from Italian citizens to European citizens. Basically all these categories, included in the tender as "non-residents", based on the results of this tender, will be forced to suffer very serious discrimination following a gigantic speculation which already in recent months had brought airline tickets to insane numbers. All this because the Region has not complied with a Community regulatory provision which should have applied indiscriminately to all passengers, ie by setting a maximum fare, precisely that reserved for residents, a fare calculated on the basis of precise European parameters.

Maximum rate, the hole

It is point 40 of the Community law that indicates the setting of a maximum tariff: «The Public Service Obligations may include provisions relating to maximum tariffs, if it is deemed necessary, since otherwise the tariffs would be excessive in relation to the economic needs of the region concerned ». Not having fixed a ceiling on tariffs as envisaged by Community legislation is a fact of unheard-of gravity, and moreover reiterated, given that after the first bankruptcy experience there were already explicit elements that would have led anyone to block this further "undue" gift to the companies aerial.

Appeals & Doubts

By 29 January, two days before the conclusion of the procedure for the possible acceptance of public service obligations without compensation for all routes, you can appeal to the Sardinia Tar. The time and administrative openings to try to remedy the announced disaster are getting tighter and tighter day by day. The doubt is crucial: defend the interests of the companies or pursue an all-Sardinian territorial continuity that protects the rights of all citizens who want to move to and from Sardinia, without discrimination and without residence cards. After all, territorial continuity and a single tariff are the first true proof of the facts for the implementation of the constitutional provision on the insular principle. To date, proclamations have prevailed. In fact, Sardinia is still hostage to airlines and unheard-of speculation.

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