There has been news coming out of Italy of the fifth rebirth of the national airline of Alitalia that is supposedly renamed as ITA. The current Alitalia has been in administration since 2017, and the government has not been able to find a buyer.
The airline has lost €8 billion in the past four years. The Italian government has already used more than 10 billion euros to prop up the airline over the years (and there was an unfortunate and very costly investment from Etihad too).
You can access Alitalia here.
According to the Italian press, the latest plan is to form a mini-Alitalia by halving the number of planes from 90 to 45 and cutting the number of employees to 4,500.
The name of the new company is Italia Trasporto Aereo that is shortened to ITA. The government plans to restart the airline with a budget of €3 billion in April or May this year.
Conclusion
Alitalia, in all of its previous forms, has been a chronic money-losing airline.
Qatar Airways recently pulled the plug from Air Italy, formed from Sardinia-based Meridiana, which was supposed to be the main competitor to Alitalia.
Not sure what the airline’s fifth rebirth will be like after burning through €10 billion from the government + significant amount from Etihad through? I cannot see anything else coming out of this other than yet another restructuring by the middle 2020s.
At some point, you need to accept that the airline has been an utter failure and shut it for good.