Just for clarification, Air France and KLM are the same company, although they still operate under their historical names and routes. Air Italia is based in Gallarte, Italy, and is owned by an investment group with no connection to the Italian government.

"Actually, I don't base this upon one bad experience, but several legs over the past year with them. The planes have been universally shabby and one gets the feeling the whole thing is held together with duct tape."

This is exactly my impression after a couple of flights with Alitalia.

And they are old - very old. This is a fact.

And still flying Super 80ies is not industry standard in Europe. There is no other (West) European airline that flies such dated equipment.

I have said this before and I will say it again: there is NO customer service at Alitalia. None, zero, zip, zilch.

Sure they fly planes and no one gets killed. They're an airline, aren't they?

But after years of near bankruptcy, morale is nonexistent. Please try to change an Alitalia ticket if you don't believe me.

And the way business class passengers are treated is never, on any airline, and indication of how the average shlub like me will be treated.

Anabelle's question does say "airitalia" but here is no such airline. She also mentions "Air Italia" but could that be Air Italy?

Who knows. But I avoid Alitalia if I can. I'm not bashing them. Like others here, I've read and followed their struggles and have my own experiences to rely upon.

Why on earth would people of fodor's bother to bash any airline that was reliable and provided decent customer service? We aren't a bunch of Alitalia hating lunatics. That is just nuts.

On any given day, many people fly Alitalia without incident. I prefer not to book with them, because if I have a problem and need their help, there is no help to be had.

<i>&quot;And still flying Super 80ies is not industry standard in Europe. There is no other (West) European airline that flies such dated equipment.&quot;</i>

This isn't exactly true. SAS also has a pretty large fleet of these. They do keep them up a little better than Alitalia, though.

I wouldn't worry about Alitalia going bankrupt. This rumor goes around every year.

Yeah, their service isn't so great and their planes are old and they lose luggage alot. But, their fares can be really cheap at times (not always).

Let's face it, 9 hours sucks on a plane, unless you are going in Biz or 1st class.

:-)

dave

But Dave, there is a reason &quot;this rumor goes around every year.&quot; They have come very close to being grounded on more than once. If something goes awry in the current negotiations, are you sure they'll get another bail out? Not a very popular idea among taxpayers, as I understand it.

Delta/ Continental assured us that if they felt uncomfortable with Alitalia honoring their reservations, they would not partner with them--all I can do at this point is trust what they say and hope it is true...

Sorry, but I'm from the school that thinks an airline will tell you anything (to assure you or what you want to hear) in order to sell you a ticket.

I read an article about Alitalia in the past week that quoted someone (president of Alitalia, I think) saying that if the current talks (with AirFrance/KLM) are not successful it could be the end of Alitalia. I think the deadline on these talks is late February. They're losing something like $1.5 million a day and carrying over $1 billion in debt.

Happily, none of this relates to the OP who was asking about Air Italia.

after readin these posts I am worried about our upcoming trip. This is the trip we have dreamed of and even cashed in a HUGE amount of FF miles to fly business class. we are going in April- should I be worried?

Mikki

There's no &quot;rumour&quot; about Alitalia going bankrupt. By most definitions, it already is, and it's illegal for the Italian government to subsidise it. Which doesn't of course mean subsidies will stop: but BA, KLM, Lufthansa and Air France have got a great deal more clout, and they'll be lobbying their governments to enforce EU legisaltion and kill Alitalia if it doesn't accept Air France's terms for being bought out.

Air France is presenting its takeover bid by March 14. The squabbling will doubtless go on for a while afterwards, so closure's unlikely for a few months.

But don't bet on their being around next year.

AlItalia was a very good Airline Co. until about 6-8 years ago. Their long haul Magnifica Class service, complete with on-board expresso bar, and the extra large cabin luggage stowage made for a easy flight, no checked baggage good food/wine, etc. Now I have reluctantly dropped AlItalia from my routine flying. The equipment has deterioriated, and the morale of staff is low, mostly due to the strangle hold the union has on the employees and management as far as negotiating a merger deal. Also the MD 80 was last produced in the late 90s, it is based on a design upgrade of the old DC9 and dates back to 1979 when it was first delivered.

Anyway, AlItalia seems to be like many things Italian, poorly managed and crushed by the gov. beauracracy.

I would never fly them again. Just didn't like the whole experience -- late departures, no assigned seating, completely indifferent FAs, etc.

does it make any difference if we are flying business? anyone know what type of plane they use to travel between us and rome?

Mikki

I believe Alitalia (AZ) has dropped the old 747 service, now runs Airbus 320 series and a few Boeing 777s

There are many code-sharing flights run on Delta equipment

More traveller nonesense. Any airline can be criticized. And it also can be complemented. Bargain flyers are always trying to get a first class experience for tourist class prices. Travel should be \for the quickest transit between A and B. All airlines operate within 'a box'. You are going to get there! Passenger delivery is at 99 plus percent.

<i>does it make any difference if we are flying business? anyone know what type of plane they use to travel between us and rome?</i>

What city are you flying from? Depending upon where you are leaving from, you will either be on the 767 or the 777. Neither has a reputation for being very well kept, so expect a slightly dingy vibe.

If you are on the 767, note that there is no in-seat video (or at least I am 95% sure there isn't), even in biz. You will be looking up at the main screen. The 777 has a more modern in-seat system that is pretty decent.

I have actually heard that the seats are pretty comfortable. But, the service is reputed to be pretty poor. Myself, as long as the seats are comfortable, I can live with lesser service, but for others it kills the deal. I would give it a go.

Mikki, In Magnifica class (Alitalia's business) you will be fine. DH &amp; I flew them a couple of weeks ago from Chicago to Milan, and the service was quite friendly and good. The seats, though somewhat worn, were comfortable and everything worked. There were individual video screens. (It was a 777.) On the other hand, they lost our luggage in Chicago (still kicking myself for deciding at the last minute to check luggage), and we did not have any luggage for several days. There is plenty of room for carry-ons, so we could easily have taken everything on board.

we will be leaving from newark if that helps know what type airplane it is- It is not online and I cna;t bear waiting on hold another 20 minutes to find out!

Mikki

This looks to be a 767. And, FWIW, it seems that they might hand out those hand-held DigE players in biz.