On August 1, Italy's Alitalia appointed Maurizio Prato as the airline's new chairman with a mandate to find a buyer for the troubled carrier, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Prato, who has left his job as Fintecna chairman and CEO, will have greater executive powers than his predecessor Berardino Libonati, who resigned a day earlier and was responsible for organizing the failed auction for the carrier in his seven months in Alitalia, the report said.

During a meeting of the board of directors, Alitalia decided to move an examination of a new business plan for the transition period leading to Alitalia's sale to the end of the month.

The new Alitalia chairman, the fourth in three years, has had a long career in the state sector, holding a broad range of positions in the former public conglomerate IRI, and he used to be a member of the Alitalia board of directors.

His arrival at the Alitalia helm received a favorable response from the airline's unions.

Prato was chosen by the Italian Treasury, which holds a 49.9-percent share of the national carrier, after the government decided to sell the airline through direct negotiations, as opposed to a new auction under revised conditions.

The government was forced to call off the auction on July 18 after all the bidders dropped out, with many citing restrictive conditions and shifting guidelines. The bidders included Air One, Matlin Patterson equity group and Aeroflot Russian Airlines, among others.

Alitalia has not posted an operating profit since 1998 and its net debt currently stands at more than EUR1 billion (about US$1.37 billion).

In May, Alitalia announced a full-year net loss of EUR625.6 million (about US$857 million), EUR458 million (about US$627 million) more than previously indicated.