The End Is Nigh???

[Geotherm]

Then you also have what the British taxpayer has to pay for all the entourages that accompany politicians on their foreign trips, plus renovating their free or second homes. Suppose that if a non Italian company gets its hands on Alitalia, then the government will increase taxes to pay for their "free" trips

[Sally Donaldson]

Alitalia boss quits, talks with Air France-KLM over:statement

Alitalia boss quits, talks with Air France-KLM over: statement - Yahoo! News UK

[Nardini]

A quotation ascribed to Maurizio Prato by one of the union negotiators was: "The company is cursed; only an exorcist can now save it".

There is an emergency board meeting later today, which will be of great interest. It is sad, for the sake of the employees of Alitalia, that this is happening in the run-up to the national elections. You can be sure to see Berlusconi "coming to the rescue" with millions of words now! Parole, parole, parole...

[Gala Placidia]

Well, I would say they need God and a miracle to save them. The unions are insane if they think that receivership is better than the Air France/KLM takeover. And I would be very worried about any rescue operation organised by Berlusconi to try to get some extra voters. It is not serious and Alitalia needs more than that if it is to survive. They say that they are loosing over 1,000,000 euros a day; I would say that those are operational costs only, not taking into account the bookings and ticketing they are not getting and the goodwill which is going down the drain, with the company.

[Sally Donaldson]

Gala, I'm not that sure they are losing bookings. The flight I travelled on from Heathrow to Rome was full and the journey pleasant enough.

However I was speaking with an Italian friend of mine who had just travelled to Thailand for a holiday. I asked him what airline he had used. Thai Airways. I replied Why not Alitalia. He replied that the service "sucked'. He had to wait half an hour to be attended to on a long haul flight with them.

[Gala Placidia]

Sally, I think that most people who know about Alitalia's predicament would not book or pay a ticket with the airline, because, if they go into receivership those tickets would not be worth the paper they are printed on. If this happens, the airline will be simply grounded. That is what a receiver would do. Tickets cannot be honoured and there will be nobody authorised to endorse them to another airline. The chances of getting your money back will be minimal.
And I do agree with your friend. Alitalia's service has a very bad reputation.

[anne2]

Originally Posted by Gala Placidia

I think that most people who know about Alitalia's predicament would not book or pay a ticket with the airline, because, if they go into receivership those tickets would not be worth the paper they are printed on. If this happens, the airline will be simply grounded. That is what a receiver would do. Tickets cannot be honoured and there will be nobody authorised to endorse them to another airline. The chances of getting your money back will be minimal.

This is exactly why my husband has refused to book with Alitalia over the last few months despite it often being, theoretically, the most convenient option for his various travels around the world. Right from the start the talks have been precarious, to say the least, and he did not want to end up stranded somewhere with a useless ticket and having to pay a premium fare with another airline to get him home or to his meeting on time. I doubt he is alone.

[Sally Donaldson]

Take your point Gala. I suppose then a warning to insure yourselves in that eventuality.

[juliancoll]

You forgot the grazie for the interesting post.

[Sally Donaldson]

Originally Posted by juliancoll

You forgot the grazie for the interesting post.

Sorry I don't understand.