ROME, Sept 25, 2008 (AFP) - Italy's leading union CGIL on Thursday dropped its objections to a rescue plan for the national airline Alitalia, signing an agreement with the government, the ANSA news agency reported.

The left-wing union had rejected the agreement signed last week by three other unions, which were also present at Thursday's meeting.

A further five unions also represent sections of Alitalia's workforce.

Three unions representing pilots and flight attendants met separately earlier Thursday with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's top aide Gianni Letta and the Italian Air Company (CAI), the consortium that last week withdrew a billion-euro offer after workers rejected it.

Alitalia, which employs nearly 20,000 people on the ground and in the air, faced a Thursday deadline to come up with a solid rescue plan or lose its licence to fly.

The CAI deal torpedoed last week would have led to 3,250 job losses.

CAI's withdrawal was an embarrassment for Berlusconi, who last month promised a 'miracle' to save Alitalia from bankruptcy.

Alitalia, 49.9 percent state owned, is facing bankruptcy, haemorrhaging about three million euros a day, with a debt of about 1.2 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars).

The airline's special administrator, Augusto Fantozzi, was due on Thursday to present a plan to Italy's civil aviation authority, ENAC, that calls for a reduction in the number of flights.