Alitalia nears bankruptcy as staff rejects rescue plan

[jimntx]

From Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...acd078-15d5-11ea-80d6-d0ca7007273f_story.html

I love this quote from the article: "Alitalia unions have called a 24-hour strike for Dec. 13 to protest the uncertainty." As if the strike-prone unions have nothing to do with the uncertainty issue.

I repeat...I'm not one to say I told you so, but I told you so. Also, I think the other airlines, such as LH and AF/KLM will realize they have nothing to fear from an Italian government-owned airline. After all, the government collapsed back in the summer--an event that occurs on an almost monthly basis and foretells the success (or failure) of a government-run airline.

Article also says that Alitalia must repay the $400 million Euros loan or it will be considered as unfair competition. Does that mean now or when this $400 million runs out and the airline has 6.5 Euros and a subway token left in the cash box.

Short summary of Cranky Flyer's opinion of AZ...

"Nobody wants to rescue Alitalia, so the burden has now fallen back on to the government. That sound you hear is another 400 million euros going down the drain at the Worst Airline Ever."

Oh, come on Cranky. Tell us how you really feel.

 

[eolesen]

Brett has been writing AZ's obituary for over ten years.

The other British and EU airlines don't have much to fear from an Italian government owned as far as competing for quality, but they will have an impact on yields, and just like Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant do in the US, everyone suffers where they cut prices.

 

[jimntx]

You would think by now that someone in the Italian government would realize that funding Alitalia is just throwing good money after bad. Alitalia gets a government "loan," the employees then sit back and expect to get paid whether they do their jobs or not--especially cabin crew. Then the next thing is you find Alitalia in Rome asking for another "temporary" handout to tide them over until they get the "improvements" in place. Then the next thing you notice is customers avoiding Alitalia in droves. It's one of those "only if there is no other way" choices. When I would travel to the Rome office, the travel desk at Texaco would always book me on KLM to Amsterdam from Houston and a connection also on KLM from there to Rome. I was never booked on Alitalia going or coming except the one time I was booked on Alitalia from Rome to Amsterdam (no other choice all other flights were booked solid even in First Class.)

 

[1AA]

https://simpleflying.com/alitalia-taxpayer-funds-run-out/

 

[jimntx]

A quote from 1AA's posted link..."However, Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli has been clear that no more state intervention will take place, warning that the carrier could be shut down by mid-2020 if it fails to find a buyer."

Italian government officials have stated from time to time over the past 20-30 years that there would be no more bail-out money coming from the government. (Incidentally on the occasion of giving Alitalia another "temporary" bail-out loan.) If they do run through the latest EU400m loan without finding a buyer, we can re-visit this issue and see what happened.

Cynical? Moi? How could you say such a thing?