The Worst Airline Prediction of the Past 15 Years

Skift Airline Weekly was never in the business of making predictions. But as you can see from this 2008 feature story, we were pretty sure Alitalia was headed toward the graveyard. More than a decade later, guess what? Alitalia is still flying. Lesson learned: Never underestimate the ability of weak airlines—especially those with supportive governments—to survive. Here's our story from September 22, 2008. Life After Alitalia Carrier unlikely to escape its latest near-death experience; who will fill the void? While Italy’s politicians just can’t seem to let go, options for saving Alitalia are running out. It may be time, finally, to say goodbye. Last week, the consortium of Italian investors behind the latest attempt to save the world’s most dysfunctional airline walked away. Some of Alitalia’s nine unions— counting on political support and perhaps emboldened by years of empty threats and ultimatums—refused to accept pay and productivity terms necessary to ensure the longterm health of a newly reconstructed airline. Still, as of this writing, politicians were scrambling to do something. There’s the possibility of yet another government infusion of cash, though the legal implications make that unlikely—Alitalia is already running on subsidies that violate European Union law. Politicians could browbeat one of Italy’s top banks to provide another round of short-term funding, though that wouldn’t solve anything beyond a few months at best. Finding a foreign savior is another remote possibility, but none will be willing to help as long as unions remain uncooperative. Air France/KLM, in fact, said recently that its offer to buy Alitalia—a lucrative one that politicians and unions recklessly sabotaged last spring—is off the table now that fuel prices are higher and the economy much weaker. There’s still a glimmer of hope, meanwhile, for the latest plan to recreate a new Alitalia by fusing it with Air One and shedding its debt. Investors may have walked away, but they could