Once again, it has been way too long since I checked in on Alitalia. I mean, there’s been plenty of action for my favorite airline to hate, but of course, nothing has actually happened. It’s all more of the same.
What prompted me to write this time? It’s Alitalia’s annual depressing shareholder meeting. Alitalia’s latest Chairman Aristide Police said that they were screwed, basically, unless everything magically goes well unlike anything that has ever happened before. In true Italian fashion, shareholders made loud and ridiculous claims that the airline needed an exorcism or that the senior managers should be stripped of their Italian citizenship. Um, yeah. That’ll help.
But really, things are just bad all around. The EU remains hot on Alitalia’s tail, and has launched an “in-depth investigation” of the loan from Italy. Yeah, this could get ugly if they decide it’s illegal (and it’s surely illegal).
But wait, there’s more. Why focus on Alitalia’s management when it’s almost always the Italian government pulling the strings and making things worse. Let’s just look over to Italy’s fearless leader, Silvio Berlusconi, for a little entertainment.
I think Alitalia will need to find accords with international partners and … Air France could be a good solution
Arrrrggggghhhh!! I hate you, no wait, I love you. No, I hate you. Ok, maybe I kind of like you. Really, will this fun ever stop? I hope not. It provides me with way too much entertainment.
That was a couple weeks ago, and now I think it’s safe to say that ship has sailed (though I guess you never know). Apparently, the airline has one last shot for salvation, and it ain’t the Pope. Intesa Sanpaolo is an Italian bank that has been appointed adviser to Alitalia. It is supposed to come up with a plan to save this wreck, and it should take at least another month before they even have the chance to sift through the airline’s messy books.
So for now, well, nothing has changed. *sigh*
