Alitalia, Italy’s financially crippled flag carrier, hopes to revive rescue talks between trade union leaders and Air France-KLM after next week’s parliamentary elections, thereby sparing the centre-left government the ignominy of a large-scale bankruptcy on the eve of the two-day poll.

Alitalia’s board, meeting in Rome on Tuesday night, was expected to delay a fateful decision on initiating bankruptcy proceedings until after the April 13-14 elections when the political climate will be more conducive to successful negotiations, official sources said.