alitalia

Bill, I haven't flown Alitalia in several years. My memories of the flight from Miami to Rome were horrific. Terrible service, cabin staff didn't care about passengers. For a short flight (I'm booked from Naples to Palermo in a few weeks) I think I'll be okay, or maybe Alitalia has improved. I think most people who post here fly other airlines, and that's why you haven't gotten the responses your looking for. As I said, mine may be outdated.

I flew Alitalia in March, Italy to Greece rountrip. No complaints.

We flew Alitalia from JFK to Rome last year. Absolutely loved it. It was as if we were in Italy before we even took off. I'm planning our itinerary next year specifically to be able to fly Alitalia. (Alitalia underwent major changes a couple of years ago, and they've been getting better reviews since.)

You can go to http://www.airlinequality.com/ for current ratings of airlines based on passenger reviews. Alitalia is rated 3 stars, same as United, Delta, and US Air, for example. Which is about where I would rank it.

I thought the service on it was rude and not good. We flew Delta a few days ago and it was so much better

Bill - we just used them from Toronto to Rome -
Used Alitalia for a trip to Rome for 5 people - absolutely the most miserable experience in my over 30 years of air travel. Aside from plane's interior held together with duct tape, the sound system was impaired and loudly hissed/crackled throught the flight making the movie viewing and sleeping impossible. Acccording to check-in, No accomodations would be made to seat the 5 of us together to prevent any other peanut eating person from affecting one member who had a life threatening allergy. When we made a fuss about seating together, they said they did not even know if they would allow the person with the allergy to even board the plane as they felt unsafe. The pilot would decide before take off - nonsense!! The stress, poorly organised boarding, terrible, worn out seats, surly, unhappy flight crew, unavailable service, and poorly maintained cabin appearance would make me in no way ever recommend this airline. If you have an allergy or travel with a child with an allergy - avoid this airline.

I always try to fly Skyteam usually Delta. But sometimes Delta will put me on an Alitalia flight for which they are a codeshare. Alitalia, for me, is definitely a step down from Delta or KLM. The planes are not as nice, the amenities are a little less, the service is not American (i.e. there is not nearly as much focus on 'customer service' what little of it is left on our own airlines, that is).

If one had to decide whether to fly an airline or not based on anectodal evidence of someone who had a bad experience, you'd be grounded forever. You can always find someone who's had a horrible experience with every single airline in the world. You can go to any internet forum and you'll find someone who's ranting about some awful experience they had with any airline. I've not flown the new Alitalia company that was born from the ashes of the old one in 2009. But I had no major complaints about the old Alitalia. Currently Alitalia is rated by specialized rating agencies more or less at the level as other major airlines. That means that your chances of having a bad experience are just as high as with most other airlines. Said this I would choose airlines based on the convenience and price of the flight I need for that specific destination on that specific date, not on someone else's bad experience they had 5 years ago on a certain airline. I should probably have the biggest complaint about Air France. I've flown with them several times, they lost my luggage 2 times, one of which they never found my baggage again. I had arguments with their staff in at least two other occasions, and got me stuck in Paris twice because of delays or cancellations. Would I fly Air France again after that? Hell yes! In fact I have and I had no complaints. Give me a cheap price and a convenient flight and I'll fly with Satan Airlines. In the context of a 2 or 3 week vacation I won't let a bad experience on a flight ruin my enjoyment of a trip. A flight is just a damn bus ride, nothing more.

FWIW, this is a six month old posting.