Status of Alitalia
 

After several flights last week on Alitalia, I can say that if Alitalia is not "legally" bankrupt, for all practical purposes they act as if they are.

I fly very frequently, and have to say that their srvice has detiorated substantially oin the past year. Business class on many of their Europe-Europe; Europe-Asia bound flkights consists of the first few rows of seats designated as "Business Class" the seats are the same as coach, but the food service is said to be better, very hard to see what could have been worse than that we received.

Flights were twice delayed, we found out one time for lack of a pilot, the second time lack of a stewardess. They then decided that they would ask everyone from row 10-18 to move to anoither seat anywhere else in economy. You can imagine what chaos ensued with evryone sitting in somneone else's seat. The first 8 rows remained empty to the remaining stewardesses wouldn't have to move around so much.

Anyway, just a heads up to those that may have another choice other than Alitalia. I was surprised by Iberia's service, much better than I expected.

The last time I flew Alitalia, several months ago, we made an unscheduled stop in Milan. Then we were all herded off the plane, told to wait in a corridor for over an hour, then put onto buses for the remainder of our journeys.

omg im getting nervous...im scheduled to fly alitalia in 2 weeks!

dtph: were you reading this forum when you booked? Just curious, and I apologize if the question seems snarky.

There are people who report no problems. Let's face it, even the world's worst airlines get most people where they are going in a reasonable fashion, most of the time.

I might suggest not checking bags. I hardly ever check anyway, but if I had to fly Alitalia I would make sure to have what I needed with me. They have no customer service and you will have a difficult, if not impossible, time of it if you need any assistance.

Other than that, hey, any flight can suck.

I have purposely avoided Alitalia due to all I've read on this forum. dtph, I wish you the best and please post back after your trip. I hope your luck is better than everyone else's.

Never an airline known for Customer Service and the current mess has made a bad situation better.

If you are flying them you might want to cruise over to www.flyertalk.com and read the Alitilia forum there.

My dear sweet (ex) mother-in-law was born in Italy and immigrated to the US after WWII with her American husband. When she traveled back to Italy after the kids were all grown up it was always on Alitalia. That was the only airline she trusted because, well, it was Italian. She must be turning over in her grave to know how run into the ground it is now. Of course customer service is really not the cornerstone of many airlines today anyway is it? Sad indeed.

DTPH, please let us know your experience on Alitalia. I will be booking a flight from NY to Palermo in November. There seems to be no way of avoiding Alitalia. Good luck. Hope things go well for you.

Got such a great price Toronto to Rome, never even thought about checking the "usual" information sites. We fly out May 13th, returning May 28th. It's direct so, hopefully, our luggage will arrive with us!

I hope your flights are non-stop instead of direct as it's not the same. ;-) But please do post back with your experince, I'm anxious to hear how it went. Good luck and have a great trip. :-)

We have non-stop flights on Alitalia which are managed by AirOne. Customer service has been fine with answering questions, selecting and re-selecting seats due to an equipment change. Re-confirm often and especially a few days before your flight. I found this link which might be helpful with strike info for Alitalia, AirOne and Trenitalia:

This link might be helpful:

http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp

i had no idea that alitalia had a bad reputation! i booked it b/c it was the lowest priced non-stop flight to rome. i told someone at work after i booked my tix that i was flying alitalia...and they said that wasn't a good idea....and now im reading it here...oh boy! well, i am flying in a week....so im hoping for the best. i never check bags, so thats a plus i suppose =) i pray that the flight doesnt get delayed or re-routed. i'll post back when i return.

dtph, there's a reason why Alitalia is the cheapest. But look at it this way, you might be in for an adventure and you will have a good story to tell when you get back. Either that or all will be OK and you will be happy. If something weird happens on Alitalia then so what, you are still going to Italy and I am jealous!! Enjoy your trip.

Check your reservation and seat assignment now and again a day or two before you leave.

Let us know how things go with your flight. Enjoy your trip!

Alitalia has been bought out by AirOne, so its financial situation is currently fine. No risk of bankruptcy or being shutdown.

Of course, it is still Alitalia, so service and strikes are suspect. That hasn't changed.

My favorite airline is Lufthansa....if headed to Italy you will go to Frankfurt or Munich (Munich is easier,) usually use Munich to France and others.

Frankfurt is huge, but you get used to it. We fly out of Atlanta....flight leaves on time and arrives on time. We have never had a problem, ever after many trips.

There is a pretty good comment about Alitalia (NYC to Rome flight) posted in a Rome trip report on TA today.

I also booked Alitalia (through Orbitz)for our trip in September as they were the lowest price. It's our first trip and the schedule has already changed a couple of times, grrr. I'm going to be saying a lot of prayers and hope for the best. And I booked Air One for the trip from Naples to Palermo, too. Think positive, right?

Call often and especially a day or two before your trip to re-re-re-re-confirm your seat assignments. I have already done so several times and that is how I discovered they changed equipment and all seats had to be re-assigned. It means nothing in Alitalian though until the last minute.

First trip to Italy? Have a wonderful time! I love Italy - all my grandparents and mom were born there so it is a very special place for us.

Marianna-thank you so much for the encouraging words and wishes. I still cannot even get seat assignments except for the US portion of our flights. They say Alitalia will assign at the gate? Yes, I plan to check, re-check, and re-re-check prior to leaving. My husbands family is from Italy too and I'm excited to go and maybe even look up some relatives while we are there.