Alitalia, which has been in bankruptcy protection since 2017 and failed to produce a profit since 2008, will operate its last flight today. It will be replaced by ITA starting tomorrow.

A strike by unhappy employees has led to the cancellation of more than 100 flights this week.

Alitalia issued this statement:

For Monday, October 11, some trade unions proclaimed a 24-hour strike of Air Transport. Alitalia was therefore forced to cancel a series of flights, both domestic and international, scheduled for that day.

As a result of the flight cancellations on 11 October due to the 24-hour strikes, the Company was also forced to cancel some connections on 10 and 12 October 2021.

To limit the inconvenience of passengers, Alitalia has activated an extraordinary plan that provides for the use of more capacious aircraft on domestic and international routes, with the aim of rebooking travelers involved in cancellations on the first flights available on the day.

Alitalia invites all travelers who have purchased a ticket to fly on October 11 – and also on the evening of October 10 and in the early morning of October 12 – to check the status of their flight, before going to the airport, on the alitalia.com website, by calling the toll-free number 800.65.00.55 (from Italy) or the number +39.06.65649 (from abroad), or by contacting the travel agency where they purchased the ticket.

Passengers who have purchased an Alitalia ticket to travel on 11 October (and also on the evening of 10 and in the early morning of 12 October), in case of cancellation of their flight, will be able to change their reservation or request a refund of the ticket without any penalty until 14 October 2021. The trip must be completed by October 14, 2021.

And this statement:

We inform you that due to the current union mobilizations and the simultaneous commitment to professional training at the new airline of part of the crew may occur inconveniences in the provision of Alitalia services.

We also advise passengers to present themselves at boarding with only one hand luggage of the size allowed to contain the waiting time for return to their destination and to check the status of the flight on alitalia.com before going to the airport.

We apologize to passengers for any inconvenience caused.

The last flight is scheduled to operate from Cagliari, Sardinia to Rome (Fiumicino).

ITA will not, for now, use the Alitalia name. An auction to sell the name ended with no bids. ITA stated the starting price was too high.

ITA is the not the economic successor to Alitalia as it will not be encumbered with Alitalia’s debt.

There are also a lot of disgruntled Alitalia employees who have not been hired by ITA.

From the Wall Street Journal via MarketWatch:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-popes-airline-alitalia-to-fly-last-flight-11634198592

From CNN:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/how-italys-high-speed-trains-killed-alitalia/ar-AAPsq0I?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Alitalia aircraft slide show:

Alitalia has officially announced the end of operations with this statement:

Alitalia under Extraordinary Administration from midnight August 24, will no longer sell tickets for flights from October 15, 2021.

At the same time, it will send a prompt and direct communication, via e-mail, to customers who have purchased flights departing from October 15. The note includes instructions for managing tickets. In order to ensure full consumer protection, it will be possible to replace the flight with another equivalent operated by Alitalia by October 14; otherwise full refund of the ticket will also be possible.

The communication campaign responds to the Company’s desire to manage the situation in a clear and transparent way, safeguarding consumers.

This morning, Alitalia Airbus A319-112 EI-IMC flew home the Italian football team for the UEFA Euro 2020 championship (played in 2021). Italy defeated England for the championship.

Alitalia flight AZ9001 took off from Luton Airport at 3:02 am and landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport at 6:03 am.

Photo: Alitalia. The cup is pictured in the middle seat 1E. Coach Roberto Mancini is in seat 1D, and team manager Gabriele Oriali in seat 1F.

Marco Finelli reporting from Italy.

On December 15, 2020 Alitalia will resume non-stop services from Rome to Sao Paulo and inaugurate the codeshare agreement with Brazilian airline Gol; flights from Rome to Buenos Aires will begin on December 19, 2020.

Scheduled services ro Brazil and Argentina will be operated on a weekly basis and will mark not only the resumption, after about nine months, of a regular direct air connection between Italy and the two South American countries, but they will also guarantee greater opportunities for carrying goods between Europe and South America, thanks to the load capacity of 20 tons (in 80 cubic meters of space) of the bellies of the Alitalia Boeing 777-200ER aircraft which will fly on the two routes.

In detail, services to and from Brazil will restart from December 15 with departure from Rome Fiumicino airport at 10:05 pm and arrival at the Sao Paulo-Guarulhos airport at 6:25 am (local time) the following day. From Sao Paulo, the Alitalia Boeing will take off for the first time on  December 17 at 4:05 pm (local time) and land in Rome Fiumicino at 7:15 am the next morning. Departures from Rome will be every Tuesday and from Sao Paulo every Thursday.

With the resumption of operations in Brazil, a codeshare agreement with the Brazilian airline Gol will also be launched. The commercial agreement will offer will offer passengers the possibility to travel to 39 other Brazilian destinations (including, for example, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Recife, Salvador) thanks to the flights operated by Gol to and from Sao Paulo airport in connection with the Alitalia flight to and from Rome.

Services to and from Argentina will restart from December 19 with departure from Rome Fiumicino airport at 9:50 pm and arrival at the Buenos Aires-Ezeiza airport at 8 am (local time) the following day. From Buenos Aires, the Alitalia Boeing will take off for the first time on  December 21 at 2:05 pm (local time) and land in Rome Fiumicino at 7 am the next morning. Departures from Rome will be every Saturday and from Buenos Aires every Monday.

With the resumption of these two routes to South America, Alitalia will serve three intercontinental destinations with scheduled flights: Buenos Aires, New York and Sao Paulo.

Newco, which replaced the current Alitalia, is now on the scene in Italy.

Italia Trasporto Aereo SpA (Alitalia 4th) was born on Friday, October 9, 2020 when four Italian ministers signed the constitution act: Roberto Gualtieri (economy), Stefano Patuanelli (economic development), Nunzia Catalfo (labor) and Paola De Micheli ( transport and infrastructure) cleared the new airline company with Chairman Francesco Caio (currently chairman at Saipem in the oil & gas world business) and Fabio Maria Lazzerini as CEO, at this time chief business officer in Alitalia SAI.

In the past weeks, Alitalia SAI, has decided to switch from passenger aircraft to cargo aircraft including its Boeing 777-300 ER registered as EI-WLA for Alitalia Cargo. The aircraft flies beside to Boeing 777-200 ER EI-ISD modified some months ago.

EI-WLA operated its first service from New York (JFK) to Milan (Malpensa) as flight AZ9453 on October 10.