Alitalia Airbus A330
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It has been announced that at the start of June, the Italian Government will begin to take over the airline. The airline’s fleet of 90 aircraft will begin operations under a new company made by the Italian Government. The airline used to operate 113 aircraft but this has been reduced. This operation has gone underway due to the airline struggling from the Covid-19 outbreak.
‘Thanks to the state intervention, Alitalia will be able to compete effectively once the sectors recover,’ stated by a spokesperson for the government.
The airline’s new owners are looking through numerous aspects on how to approach this new airline as it transitions to a new company. One of their main aims is to re-evaluate their SkyTeam membership. Alitalia joined Skyteam in 2001. The SkyTeam alliance is the world’s youngest airline alliance.
However, there is news that the new airline won’t be a member of SkyTeam. Economic Development Minister Stefano Patuanelli has stated to the media that: ‘the transatlanatic antitrust expires on May 21st, that is, the period in which there is no longer code sharing with Delta and SkyTeam members.’ The airline’s new administration and governance will be the one‘s to make call whether or not the change of alliance will go ahead. The problem with this agreement if not re-newest by the 21st of May is that Delta won’t be selling Alitalia tickets from America to Italy and tickets won’t be sold from Alitalia for Delta- operated services.
There is multiple positive and negative aspects to leaving SkyTeam. The way that an airline benefits greatly from an alliance is by frequent flyers. Those who travel often would benefit from status recognition across other airlines who are part of the same alliance, flight credit recognition and redemption and a greater lounge access. However, joining an alliance is costly. There isn’t an annual fee or membership as such. An airline is forced to accept award tickets from other members of the alliance. What this means is that travellers from these members could redeem miles and points for flights for an airline they’ve never flown with.
If the new Italian airline leaves this alliance it appears that they might partner with Lufthansa. They are a German airline who would like a commercial agreement with the new airline. There has been support from the representatives of the M5S political party according to Italian media reports. However, it is up to the decision makers to see will this commercial alliance become a reality.
Let’s go back to where it all began. In 1946, Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane was founded. Their first flight was from Turin to Rome in 1947. In 1957, they merged with Liner Aeree Italian, another Italian airline. This is how their current name came about. Alitalia decided to create a regional subsidiary in 1997 called Alitalia Express. They also acquired Gandalf Airlines, who were bankrupt at the time.
Unfortunately, large investments from multiple parties couldn’t keep the airline afloat. They were losing money since 1998 due to increasing fuel prices, labour problems and other issues. The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008 after the Italian government failed to merge Alitalia with a European airline or sell it. However, at the end of 2008, the government sold the airline to Compagnia Aerea Italiana (CAI), an Italian investment group. They also bought Alitalia’s rival, Air One, in an attempt to merge the two airlines. Alitalia agreed to sell a quarter of their capital to Air France-KLM while pending the approval of its owners and the EU competition authorities.
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