Italy's four main unions – CGIL, CISL, UIL and UGL – and a consortium offering to buy Alitalia agreed to the rough outline of a rescue plan that would cut about 3,000 jobs but leave 12,500 workers at the slimmed-down airline.

Thousands of others are in units that would be spun off.

“It's a first, important step,” said Raffaele Bonanni of the CISL union.

But it was not clear whether other, smaller unions representing pilots and cabin crews would agree to the deal being negotiated by their peers. They initially scoffed at the agreement and questioned why they were excluded from talks.

Industry Minister Claudio Scajola warned there were “only a few hours left” to save Alitalia, whose shares have been suspended since June.

Negotiations on tricky issues like salary cuts were set to resume in the late morning, with no guarantee of success.

“The persistent problem which could, if not resolved, cause this initiative to fail is the new job contracts,” said Labour Minister Maurizio Sacconi, confirming the figures on job cuts.

The civil aviation authority said at the weekend Alitalia's operating licence was at risk after the airline confirmed it was having trouble buying jet fuel from wary suppliers.

Still, traffic at the main international airports in Rome and Milan was normal so far on Monday, airport officials said.

ENI Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said the Italian oil company would not give Alitalia fuel without cash up front.

“Not even if Berlusconi or the Pope asks me to,” Mr. Scaroni told La Repubblica newspaper. “(Eni) cannot supply fuel to airlines if they cannot pay cash. There is no moral suasion – international agreements are clear.”

Once a symbol of Italy's post-war boom, Alitalia has for years suffered from political interference, labour disputes, financial woes and most recently from soaring fuel costs – which are weighing on airlines around the world.

The airline, which is operating under a bankruptcy commissioner, has not been in profit since 1999 and had nearly €1.2-billion ($1.68-billion U.S.) in debt as of July.

“I feel bad for the Alitalia staff but really we are hearing the death notice for something that we knew has not been working for many years,” said Rome resident Michele Antonucci, as news of its possible liquidation dominated Italian media.

An Alitalia collapse would be a huge political blow for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who promised voters he would use his business contacts to find it an Italian buyer.

Britain's third-largest package holiday operator, XL Leisure Group, grounded all flights on Friday after going into administration. Discount transatlantic carrier Zoom Airlines began bankruptcy proceedings last month.

The state holds a 49.9 per cent stake in Alitalia and many Italians hoped Mr. Berlusconi, a billionaire media mogul, would save Alitalia from the same fate – at taxpayer expense.

“The great Silvio, yet again, will solve the situation but it's going to cost us more in the end,” said Rome resident Ciro Peccarillo.

In April, Alitalia's unions sank a deal agreed under the previous, centre-left, government to sell the airline to Air France-KLM, a deal that Mr. Berlusconi, then in opposition, said he would block if he came into power.