It has been far too long since we’ve checked in on the airline I love to hate, Alitalia. So what’s new?

alitaliaWell, They just reported stellar first quarter earnings. By stellar, I mean absolutely horrible, but not quite as bad as last year. They lost just a tad over 147m euros, far better than last year’s 156m euro loss. Yeehaw!

Meanwhile, in the crawl to privatize the airline, things are leisurely moving along. Sadly, Fabio Scaccia has been disqualified from bidding, but the final three contestants have been set. Italian airline Air One, Russian airline Aeroflot, and private equity group Texas Pacific Group are leading their own teams to win a date with, er, I mean the right to buy Alitalia. Final bids are due at the end of June. I’d go Price is Right style and bid $1 personally. But that might still be too much.