Yes, Alitalia is finally gone, flying its last flight Thursday night from Rome to Cagliari. But, in a last-minute move, its name and trademarks will live on, used by its successor, the state-owned ITA Airlines, whose first flight operated this morning from Milan to Bari.
ITA had hoped to buy the Alitalia name and trademarks far enough ahead to assure a smooth transition, offering €90 million for them in an auction required by the EU approvals that separated the new airline from the old airline's debt. But the other state-owned hand set a minimum price of €290 million, hoping for a bit of profit to pay off Alitalia debts, but with no other bidder, the deal went through at the last minute.
And now the confusion starts: Most of the planes the new airline is starting with are leased from the old one or its lessors, and are still painted for Alitalia. But the Alitalia website is occupied for now by "Alitalia Extraordinary Administration," the government agency that holds the debt and the job of notifying passengers and vendors. It will be a while before ITA can move on from its current site, itaspa.com
The old website has links for Alitalia refunds and vouchers, and a link telling MilleMiglia loyalty plan members that they can still use and earn miles with Alitalia's former partners. The new airline is barred from taking over the old plan. Interestingly, what it does not have is a link to ITA's website!
On the ground, meanwhile, former Alitalia employees have been holding protests over job losses; the new airline has only about 3,000 employees and plans to grow to less than 6,000, while the old airline had over 11,000. Many of ITA's staff are former Alitalia employees and many are still wearing the old uniforms.
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