Reports: Ex-Ferrari boss to head Italy's Alitalia airline

Alitalia will be led by the former chief of Ferrari, according to multiple reports this week.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the long-time chairman at luxury sports car maker Ferrari, would take over the top job at Alitalia as the Italian carrier remakes itself as part of a tie-up with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. Etihad CEO James Hogan would take over as Alitalia's No. 2 executive, according to the reports, all of which cited unnamed sources.

Etihad announced in June that it would buy a 49% in struggling Alitalia, essentially a rescue plan for the Italian carrier that has seemingly been on the brink of collapse for large parts of the past decade.

Reuters, citing its unnamed sources, writes Montezemolo and Hogan "had not been formally appointed because the deal ... still needs approval from European authorities to be officially signed off."

"Yesterday, the board of the old Alitalia designated Montezemolo and Hogan who will eventually be nominated by the board of the new company," one of the sources told Reuters on Thursday. In its report, Reuters cited two unnamed "sources close to the matter."

Italian newspaper Il Messaggero also ran a report this week with similar information. Neither Alitalia nor Etihad has publicly commented on the reports.

The Associated Press notes "Montezemolo resigned from Ferrari last month after decades at the helm in a spat with the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which owns the luxury sports car maker."

For Etihad, its stake in Alitalia continues a trend in which the Abu Dhabi-based carrier buys stakes in partners that it thinks can help its business. Etihad's other equity partners include Virgin Australia, Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles and India's Jet Airways.