L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 L'Italo-Americano A litalia and its i c o n i c w h i t e , g r e e n a n d r e d p l a n e s w i l l b e n o m o r e , s t a r t i n g o n t h e 1 5 t h o f October of this year. The Italian flagship carrier will b e r e p l a c e d b y a n e w c o m p a n y , I T A - I t a l i a Trasporto Aereo. Alitalia was established some three months after the declaration of the Italian R e p u b l i c , o n t h e 1 6 t h o f S e p t e m b e r 1 9 4 6 , a s A e r o l i n e e I t a l i a n e Internazionali. It had been c r e a t e d t h a n k s t o a n agreement between Italy and British European Airways. Its name, of course, came from the union of the word ali (wings) and Italia: as poetic as you'd expect from a country like ours. The company operated its first flight on the 5th of May 1 9 4 7 : c a p t a i n V i r g i n i o Reinero flew passengers from Turin to Catania and Rome on a Fiat G.12 Alcione. Between then and now, a history made of efficiency a n d g l a m o r , b u t a l s o o f immense financial issues, w h i c h b r o u g h t i t u n d e r E x t r a o r d i n a r y A d m i n - i s t r a t i o n i n 2 0 1 7 , a f t e r a n u m b e r o f u n p r o f i t a b l e years. Since March 2020, A l i t a l i a h a s b e e n o w n e d e n t i r e l y b y t h e I t a l i a n Government and later in the s a m e y e a r , t h e i d e a o f reincorporating itself under a new name, ITA, emerged. T o d a y , w e a r e j u s t 6 weeks away from Alitalia's last flight and ITA's first, which is taking off on the 15th of October. L a s t J u l y , t h e E U approved the plan proposed by the Italian Government to b a l a n c e t h e c o m p a n y ' s b u d g e t b y 2 0 2 3 , w h i l e offering a clear departure -- in practice, as well as name - - from the previous venture. I T A w i l l s e e a r e l a t i v e reduction of airport slots compared to Alitalia, in line with the initial dimension of its fleet: it will keep 85% of Alitalia slots in Milan Linate and 43% of those in Rome F i u m i c i n o . T i c k e t s a l e s began last week on a newly c r e a t e d w e b s i t e , w w w . i t a s p a . c o m ( a provisional one, created to allow users to start booking t h e i r t i c k e t s ) a s w e l l a s travel agencies and airports. The company will serve 45 r o u t e s , o f w h i c h 2 0 i n t e r n a t i o n a l a n d 4 intercontinental. For the moment, the only direct ITA US routes are to N e w Y o r k , B o s t o n a n d Miami, from both Milan and Rome, but they are soon to be expanded and include t h e s a m e d e s t i n a t i o n s Alitalia used to offer: Los Angeles and Washington DC f r o m R o m e , i n 2 0 2 2 ; Chicago and San Francisco i n 2 0 2 3 . T h e l a t t e r w a s s c h e d u l e d t o b e g i n operations with Alitalia in 2 0 2 0 , b u t i t w a s a l l postponed because of the p a n d e m i c . H o w e v e r , y o u may not be able to book your ITA flights to the US for a while, as the formal request to obtain rights to land on A m e r i c a n s o i l h a s b e e n made but not accepted, yet. The new fleet is formed by an initial 52 planes, which will increase to 78 in 2022 (Alitalia currently has 84). A l s o i n 2 0 2 2 , n e w generation aircrafts, which both consume and pollute less, will be introduced and substitute the old ones: the aim is to create a fleet of 105 planes, 77% of which new g e n e r a t i o n , b y 2 0 2 5 . O n i n t e r c o n t i n e n t a l f l i g h t s , t h r e e s e r v i c e c l a s s e s a r e l i k e l y t o b e a v a i l a b l e , business, premium economy a n d e c o n o m y , w i t h m o r e s e a t s i n b u s i n e s s a n d p r e m i u m , r a t h e r t h a n economy. Staff will be severely cut: from the 12,013 employees o f A l i t a l i a , n u m b e r s w i l l d r o p t o a n i n i t i a l 2 , 7 5 0 - 2,950, with a total of 5,550- 5 , 7 0 0 r e c r u i t s b y 2 0 2 5 . However, positions could increase significantly if ITA gets contracts for Alitalia's g r o u n d h a n d l i n g a n d m a i n t e n a n c e s e g m e n t s , which could open up to an extra 2,650-2,700 and 1,100 and 1,250 jobs respectively. While, at least in its first months, ITA's operations are scaled down compared to Alitalia's, international and i n t e r c o n t i n e n t a l r o u t e s remain essential, with New Y o r k , S o u t h A m e r i c a a n d T o k y o a l l h a v i n g d i r e c t f l i g h t s . S e l e c t i o n o f t h e routes to be maintained was based on profitability, as well as economic potential for the future: in other words, it wasn't only profitable routes that were kept, but also those d e e m e d s t r a t e g i c a l l y i m p o r t a n t f o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s p e c i f i c markets. From the 15th of October, ITA will serve 45 destinations (Alitalia had 100) and 61 routes, which w i l l i n c r e a s e t o 7 4 destinations and 89 routes by 2025. And so, these are the last days of Alitalia: for years the company was considered one of the best, for quality of service, in Europe and the world. The professionality, skills and elegance of their stewards and stewardesses was legendary: fluency in at least two foreign languages was standard for them in the o l d t i m e s a n d y o u c o u l d r e c o g n i z e t h e m a m o n g hundreds in airports across t h e w o r l d , t h e i r p r i s t i n e uniforms worn with pride. It's a pity to see Alitalia go, because it was the carrier of p o s t - w a r I t a l y ' s d r e a m : many of us flew for the first time on one of their planes, a moment difficult to forget. Welcome to ITA, though: in the hope its fortunes will be long lasting and routes a n d f l i g h t s w i l l i n c r e a s e more and more, to enable Italians to travel the world and the world to come to us more and more easily, more and more often. In the ned, after two years locked in our living rooms, we all have plenty of journeys to take and places to discover. The iconic Alitalia planes will stop flying on the 15th of October (Photo: Sergei Sokolnikov/Dreamstime) Goodbye Alitalia, ITA is taking off CHIARA D'ALESSIO NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

• Cover