Is Alitalia Dead?

September 15, 2008 8:26 AM

What's the latest news on Alitalia?

I know they've been struggling badly over the past few years, and there appears to be some new developments in the past day or two. My interest in this is that my parents are currently in Italy, flying back to the US next week. One of their flight segments is on Alitalia, so I'm wondering what the likelihood is that the airline will cease operations (or at least ground some flights). Any thoughts?

posted by brandman to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

They should probably brace for the worst.

The unions earlier quoted him as saying flights could not be "guaranteed" because we cannot "get fuel".

So it's not guaranteed their flight will be canceled, but there's a strong chance it seems. Have they called Alitalia yet?
posted by nitsuj at 8:39 AM on September 15, 2008

As of - um - now, it seems that an agreement has finally been reached, and this evening (Rome time) it should be signed between the major unions and the company. Independent unions are against it, but that should not pose a threat to flights.
posted by _dario at 8:52 AM on September 15, 2008

Nitsuj....I haven't spoken with them this morning, but I do know they're reaching out to the travel company with whom they booked the trip. I imagine they're going to call Alitalia directly as well (although even if they called today, I assume the response they get would only be good as of the precise moment they called!)
posted by brandman at 9:03 AM on September 15, 2008

I fly them a lot. Even when they're solvent, there are problems and strikes that last a half a day. It's all about timing. FCO is a nightmare anyway. But this is a new wrinkle.
I'm going in the fall. I've already switched my flight to US Air- Philly to FCO.
posted by Zambrano at 9:36 AM on September 15, 2008

Piggybacking on this question -- what about flights booked through them but operated by their partners (Delta an Air Cyprus)? Will these codeshares be ok?
posted by snickerdoodle at 10:36 AM on September 15, 2008