Alitalia Bankruptcy?

[Jagdflieger]

According to BBC, the Italian Airline "Alitalia" is a week out of bankruptcy.

Apparently they are one billion Euros in debt.

[Naismith]

They could always claim it's not a real currency

I'd hate to see them go under, hopefully they can be saved if the story is true.

[huub vink]

While other European airlines merged to keep a big enough market required to survive, Alitalia remained on its own. A merge with Air France/KLM was cancelled in 2000, as Alitalia had an excessive amount of staff and it was impossible to negotiate with the unions about reducing this staff.
Due to nationalistic sentiments fed by for instance Silvio Berlusconi the airline never merged and finally became too small to survive. Plans to save Alitalia didn’t really work and Alitalia already received financial support from the Italian state, banks and even their shareholders. This process is already running for over 13 years now.

Received financial support so far:
Italian state € 300 (2008)
Compagnia Aerea Italiana € 1100 (2008)
Shareholders € 150 (2013)
And currently their loss is estimated at 1 million Euros per day!.

I don’t think there is enough money to save Alitalia.

Just my 2 cents,
Huub

[SixGhost]

I'm an aviation enthusiast like you all and it would hurt to see them go, the history they made, what they meant. But I'm also an Italian citizen and I say let them go under.
The whole country is crumbling from the inside, thanks to decades of bad politics, corruption and clowns. The taxpayers can't afford Alitalia's black hole of money yet again, we already have our government for that, you know.

[Milton Shupe]

I'm an aviation enthusiast like you all and it would hurt to see them go, the history they made, what they meant. But I'm also an Italian citizen and I say let them go under.
The whole country is crumbling from the inside, thanks to decades of bad politics, corruption and clowns. The taxpayers can't afford Alitalia's black hole of money yet again, we already have our government for that, you know.

Sad state of affairs for sure, and its happening everywhere there are politicians without a moral compass. I am sorry to hear of yet another historic airline in this predicament.

[beana51]

We have similar situations....Our AUTO industry for example..Adding to the causes ,of this,exempting the UNIONS would be not reflecting some real reasons..Here GM was bailed out,Unions and all.Only FORD was able to survive.FIAT controls Chrysler...So to in Italy,,Greece,Spain,..The concept of unlimited Entitlement society will bankrupt a nation...Austerity is a tough Pill once hooked on free handouts...As Far as Politicians everywhere? They Promise and Give, The People Put them in, Only The People,can take them out..But They Do Not! All Will not give up free stuff! which gives Politicians the chance to take and abuse..There are no free rides...Again GREECE,SPAIN ,ITALY are examples of this..All Should look inward..and realize All Must Live In Its Means And Budget..Ciao Bambino..Vincenzo!<label for="rb_iconid_25"></label>

[Bjoern]

On the upside, on-time performance has continually improved over the last four to five years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alitali...d_load_factors

The article also states that this is *not* the original Alitalia, but basically a new airline using the same name - and having less of the financial burden of the original one.



Let's see how long it takes until a random carrier from the Middle East comes to the rescue.

[fliger747]

I actually used to fly Alitialia's only 747-400 cargo freighter... We used to have the greatest layovers up at Lago Majori, staying in the Grand Dino, right out of some Cary Grant meets the rich widow romance film.

T

[srgalahad]

I actually used to fly Alitialia's only 747-400 cargo freighter... We used to have the greatest layovers up at Lago Majori, staying in the Grand Dino, right out of some Cary Grant meets the rich widow romance film.

T

I can see it now... 21st Century Pictures announces "der Fliger747" - a tale of daring, romance and aeronautical excitement; starring Clint Eastwood as the grizzled, veteran pilot, an aging Brad Pitt as the dashing copilot and a supporting cast of nubile "romantic interests"; filmed on location in various Alitalia (nice segue back to the thread) bases around the world; Directed by the reincarnation of Sergio Leone...

Yes, sad to see the continued flow of PanAm/Eastern/etc/etc airline disappearances but at least we have the photographic record...
http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...909d8033074628

[SIAI S81]

Alitalia used to be a great company, I know a hostess used to work for Alitalia during 60's and she told me about this old glorious airline. The company always had problems with workers, too many people recommended from politicians and being paid for doing nothing. Nothing to say about the service, good pilots and clean planes. I doesn't surprise me it's time for this company to die but still.... skies will miss the planes with the green-white-red stripes

[stansdds]

Sad state of affairs for sure, and its happening everywhere there are politicians without a moral compass. I am sorry to hear of yet another historic airline in this predicament.

Nicely said.

[hairyspin]

I knew a pilot who flew for them for a while, back when the no smoking regimes were being introduced. As well as the sheer amount of gold braid on the uniform, he liked how the captain made the rules about smoking on a flight: he was a heavy smoker all his days.

[Skyhawk_310R]

According to BBC, the Italian Airline "Alitalia" is a week out of bankruptcy.

Apparently they are one billion Euros in debt.

Wow! That's pretty deep in the red!

Ken