UPDATE 1-Alitalia faces uncertain future as easyJet quits talks

British budget airline easyJet on Monday pulled out of talks over the future of Alitalia's operations, plunging the Italian carrier further into uncertainty two weeks ahead of a deadline to save it.

EasyJet said it had decided to withdraw from the process after discussions with Italy's state-controlled railway Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and U.S. airline Delta Air Lines. Alitalia was put under special administration in 2017 after workers rejected the latest in a long line of rescue plans, leaving the government once again seeking a buyer to save the airline.

Ferrovie is racing against the clock to meet deadline of the end of the month set by the Italian government to present a rescue plan for Alitalia, and had been in talks with easyJet and Delta over a possible deal. But the parties had not seen see eye to eye on the structure of a deal. Without an industrial partner fully on board, a source said last week that Alitalia could soon find itself in trouble since neither Ferrovie nor the state have the skills to run the carrier.

Alitalia and Ferrovie could not immediately be reached for a comment. EasyJet had said several times it was interested in Alitalia's short-haul operations and positions at primary airports.

"EasyJet remains committed to Italy, as a key market for the company," the company said in a statement. "We continue to invest in the three bases in Milan, Naples, (and) Venice."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout in London and Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru Additional reporting by Agnieszka Flak in Milan and Giselda Vagnoni in Rome Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty/Keith Weir)