There were celebrations and tears of emotion at the same time. After the arrival of Alitalia’s last flight from Cagliari, Sardinia, the arrival hall of Rome Airport became a place of tense emotions and strong statements.
“It’s as if my father has died again. I won’t tell you more, “said one of the flight attendants. Most of the passengers on board also felt that they had participated in something special. For example, passenger Simona Bernardiová showed a ticket with the signatures of passengers and Captain Andrea Gioio.
For many Italians, Alitalia is a matter of the heart. From the beginning, it represented the Italian lifestyle, glittering charm and joy of life. In addition to millions of ordinary passengers, Italian celebrities, but also all popes of the last three quarters of a century, liked to entrust themselves to her. The current one did not forget to mention it on his last trip to Slovakia. “We thank Alitalia for driving us to this day,” said Pope Francis.
That is why the Italian governments did everything possible to save the national jewel. Due to the notoriously poor management of the company, they have pumped eight billion euros into it in the last three years alone. But when the pandemic hit, Alitalia was no longer helped by the emotional demonstrations of its employees.
“The company only made a very occasional profit. And it has a long history of excessive political interference, “said John Strickland, an air transport expert.
The government will not stay away with the new carrier either. It will invest almost one and a half billion euros in it over the next three years. ITA will start operations with 52 machines and 2,800 employees, compared to 110 aircraft and 10,000 Alitalia employees. The agreement with the European Commission stipulates that by 2025, society must be profitable.
The gloomy future of airlines
Cyrrus’s portfolio manager Tomáš Pfeiler thinks that the future of ITA will not be possible without the entry of a large strategic partner such as the American Delta. From the point of view of investment, he then believes that the airline sector is definitely not the preferred sector.
In addition, business travel expects to continue to experience difficult times and recovery in this segment will be slow. Many companies will choose to communicate online remotely. In addition, there is pressure for sustainability, which will lead businesses to reduce this type of travel. All this, together with the covid, will hit the carrier hard.
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