ROME (Bloomberg) — Alitalia SpA, the insolvent Italian airline, is operating on "a razor's edge," and may run out of cash after a September 30 deadline to find a buyer, said Augusto Fantozzi, the carrier's government-appointed administrator.

Fantozzi also said he'd appeal any decision by civil aviation authorities to revoke the carrier's temporary operating licence. The administrator will present a plan to the authority, Enac, by tomorrow to allow Alitalia to keep the license at least until September 30 and will ask it to not apply European Union rules on liquidity.

Rome-based Alitalia "has reasonable liquidity," Fantozzi said in testimony before the Italian Senate today. After September 30 "the company could have some trouble," he added. The carrier so far has only received offers for parts of the company, excluding its main business, he said.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is pressing a group of Italian investors to revive a rescue plan for the airline as dissident labor unions continue to oppose the offer. Roberto Colaninno, chairman of investor group CAI, met with Italian cabinet undersecretary Gianni Letta yesterday, a government official said. That came after CAI's management met with Berlusconi's administration yesterday for the first time since dropping its bid for Rome-based Alitalia's flight business.

Fantozzi is "optimistic" that unions and CAI can reach an agreement by the end of the month. Salaries for Alitalia's staff have been paid for September, while revenue has dropped 100 million euros ($147 million) in the last month, he said.

Italy has been trying to sell Alitalia for almost two years. Union opposition scuppered a takeover offer by Air France-KLM Group in April. Berlusconi also opposed the Air France bid in his successful campaign for prime minister and pledged to organize an Italian offer once he took office.

Fantozzi said he speaks almost daily with the heads of foreign airlines, who said they're reluctant about offering to buy a majority stake in Alitalia because of the "problem" of negotiating with the unions.