I booked flights with Alitalia for 9/27/08 to Florence and returning on 10/5/09 to NYC with my family and am very worried about gettng stuck there with my family. I would greatly appreciate any advice on the best way to get home should Alitalia cease flying. I would not want to get stuck in Florence/Rome airport with hundreds of other passagers.
Posted by
Freedonia
15083 posts
Bad news for you....there's a good chance Alitalia won't be flying past Thursday. Which means, you may never leave home.
Other airlines won't start talking about filling in the gap left by Alitalia until it stops flying.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Now, did you book through Alitalia or with one of their codeshare airlines?
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
805 posts
Once any announcement comes down about a bankruptcy/closure, immediately call them and ask for a rebuking option if you still want to go or call your CC company and ask about any refund if you do not.
The good news is that we should know within 24-48 hours one way or the other. The latest is that Easyjet would cover much of Alitaia's domestic routes but its international routes would obviously be left hanging...
Posted by
Nottingham, UK
658 posts
Sadly, even though EasyJet have now migrated to the Amadeus system, EasyJet are not allowed to pick up IATA issued tickets.
Non of the low cost carriers can or will be able to get Alitalia tickets endorsed over to them. The best you can hope for from any low cost ( non IATA ) carriers is that they may shave a small percentage off their full cost ticket price i.e. the one they charge if you walk up and pay on the day of departure.
Posted by
Nottingham, UK
658 posts
I should also add that the major European airlines are getting a bit sniffy about this whole situation. The current thinking is that Alitalia should have been rolled up at least six months ago. The Italian government owns 49.9% of Alitalia and it was really irresponsible of them to allow this situation to go on to this stage. This year 25 airlines have gone bust and the major carriers have organised bail-out flights plus accepting tickets from bankrupt airlines in order to get passengers home. In this instance the Italian government is a major shareholder and any airline getting involved in any rescue measures is looking for direct compensation from the Italian government - if it's not forthcoming passengers who haven't paid by credit card could be in a tight spot.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
805 posts
Frankly Alitalia should be allowed to die. They managed to lose lots of money during the high tourist season (an estimated 1M euros a day) which is really hard to do...
Posted by
Freedonia
15083 posts
U.S. Legacy carriers are losing more than that. But then, I think they need to die and be reborn. Terrible management. But knowing the U.S. government, we'd bail them out too and put the same managers back.
Posted by
Seattle, USA
990 posts
On the way home yesterday from Croatia, I saw a small Alitalia plane taxiing on the tarmac at the Vienna Airport. A bit like a dodo sighting, sadly.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
805 posts
Alitalia has been saved, for now, and will keep flying until at least 10/15.
Quote: "Aviation authorities on Thursday allowed bankrupt Alitalia to keep flying for at least a few more weeks after Italy's biggest union agreed to Italian investors' rescue plan, although pilots and flight attendants need to accept the deal.
"For now, the feared risk of yanking the license isn't there," ENAC civil aviation chief Vito Riggio told reporters after evaluating the last-minute progress.
ENAC had threatened to ground Alitalia if the bankrupt airline's government-appointed administrator, Augusto Fantozzi, failed to present an agreed-upon deal between investors and unions by Thursday.
But Riggio said ENAC has now agreed to Fantozzi's request to let Alitalia keep flying until at least Oct. 15 while negotiations aimed at sealing a deal continue."