On top of draining money from the pockets of Greece’s taxpayers, Olympic Airlines has a string of convictions from the European Court that translate into numerous fines from the Commission.

The tendency of Greek government officials to stick their heads in the sand and their fear of vested interests have degraded the country into a pariah of the European Union, while also making Greeks poorer.

The truth is that there have been many plans to reform the troubled air carrier. They have all failed.

Instead of restructuring the company, they ended up wasting huge sums of taxpayer money. Nevertheless, the government is planning all sorts of machinations to avoid clashing with a group of unionists.

It’s trying to sustain a firm that is clinically dead.

The practice of secret subsidies is no more. The government must take the only reasonable – as well as beneficial – solution. It remains to be seen if it has the necessary courage.