After its forced nationalization, how will the old Alitalia work and what will happen to tickets sold in Argentina?

At the beginning of April, The Italian government has faced the difficult economic challenge of saving Alitalia, now the country’s former national carrier, after the brutal crisis the pandemic has meant for airlines around the world. Negotiations with the European Commission aimed to achieve a bailout through a monetary injection, advocating “the importance of having your own airline”, according to statements by Claudio Durigon, Under-Secretary of the Italian Treasury. While the European body based in Brussels has allocated 10 billion euros to Air France-KLM and 9 billion euros to Lufthansa, Alitalia did not receive the same financial support and failed to overcome the crisis.

On April 14, some 5,000 demonstrators in the streets of Rome called for an urgent solution to the paralysis in Alitalia. The march had been called by the unions which had just months of protest against the delay in the payment of wages and the imminent danger of bankruptcy. On this occasion, Fabrice CuscitoNational Secretary of the Filt Cgil union said: “There are thousands of workers who are at risk of losing their jobs and have no help to make ends meet. Alitalia in air transport is so far behind the rest of the European countries that it is not even possible to talk about the proposals ”.

Alitalia’s problem did not start with the pandemic. The company had been deadlocked since 2017 when it went bankrupt, firstly because no private investor was interested in buying the whole company, which had not been profitable since 2002, and also because the Italian government sought to nationalize it while Brussels preferred a solution through private investment which does not involve the injection of public aid to an airline in financial difficulty for more than a decade.

The Italian airline had accumulated losses totaling 11.4 billion euros between 2000 and 2020. With the pandemic, its turnover fell by 65%, reaching the floor of 1,100 million euros.

Is on July 15, it was publicly announced that the ITA would rise from the ashes of Alitalia (Italy Aero Transport), a new company that would be 100% owned by the Italian State and that “it will be fully operational from October 15, when the first flights should take off,” according to the Italian Ministry of the Economy in a statement.

“Discussions with the European Commission have resulted in a constructive and balanced solution, which guarantees the necessary discontinuity to comply with European regulations”, underlined the ministry. These conversations were not as friendly as the official statement indicates. From Brussels, the government asked the new company to break with its predecessor, abandoning the Alitalia logo and refusing to accept tickets issued by this company.

With this announcement, we also knew what would happen to the 11,000 workers Alitalia employed. “Some 2,800 former Alitalia employees could be hired by the new company in 2021 and 5,750 in 2022,” the Italian Minister for Economic Development said in a note. Giancarlo Gioretti. Faced with this, the unions expressed their dissatisfaction, deeming the situation “unacceptable”.

After these provisions, and as already indicated Infobae, was Tommaso Fumelli, National Director of Alitalia for Argentina and Chile, announced to the Argentine Federation of Travel and Tourism Professional Associations (Faevyt) that All tickets issued by the old Alitalia dated after October 15 would be canceled without the possibility of reprogramming with the new ITA or with any company of the SkyTeam group. Additionally, Fumelli reported that money returned by canceling a ticket would be returned in pesos taking the exchange rate at the time they were issued, i.e. the amount will have been affected by devaluation and l inflation in Argentina.

From the federation, they considered the possibility of initiating legal actions against the Italian company. They also said their legal advisers had prepared a report to define how to protect the interests of passengers with reservations with Alitalia and the travel agencies they represent.

For the time being, Faevyt made a formal request to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) and what remains of Alitalia to clarify the airline’s situation with Argentina. “At the moment we have no answer, we are awaiting news from Italy”, they said. Infobae Sources Faevyt.

The ITA company, which will replace the disappeared Alitalia, will have 8,000 fewer jobs than its predecessor

The latest news regarding the new ITA was released today when The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) announced the issuance of the Air Operator Certificate / AOC) on behalf of Italia Transporto Aereo (ITA) thus certifying “Has the professional capacity and the commercial organization necessary to ensure the safe operation of its aircraft”, as detailed in the document.

The permit was granted after a test flight on August 16 and is a significant step for the company to start selling tickets. “The hope is that the new national benchmark company will contribute to the reactivation of the sector, making a decisive contribution to overcoming the difficulties derived from the pandemic crisis,” he explained. Pierluigi di palma, president of ENAC, in a press release.

However, The old Alitalia still needs to remove its routes from the sales systems so that the new ITA can start selling tickets on behalf of the new company, who as announced Operations will begin on October 15.

They also reported that the ITA will start operations with 52 aircraft, increasing to 78 in 2022 and with the forecast to reach 105 by 2025. It was also reported that there are 3,000 initial employees of the company. , which means a reduction of 8,000 jobs compared to workers at the defunct Alitalia.

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