Italy just took full ownership of its national airline Alitalia to save it from collapse amid the coronavirus crisis. Here's the carrier's full troubled history.
Complemented by a similarly American-dominated long-haul fleet consisting of aircraft such as the Boeing 747.
The arrival of the 747 was a seminal moment for Alitalia and it was the first aircraft to wear the airline's now-famed green, white, and red livery with an "A" shape on the tail.
Alitalia was the first European airline to transition fully into the jet age and continued the switch with more wide-body aircraft such as the Airbus A300.
Other aircraft that would join the Alitalia jet fleet included the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, McDonnell Douglas DC-10...
Alitalia even had uniforms designed by Georgio Armani, who also contributed to aircraft interior designs.
Source: Alitalia
The airline's short-haul fleet later included a European favorite, the Airbus A320 family.
Source: Boeing
As Italy's national airline, Alitalia was also known for flying the Pope with the papal plane using the flight number AZ4000, better known as Shepherd One
Source: Telegraph
Despite rising traffic throughout its history with Italy being a popular European tourist and leisure destination, the airline struggled with profitability.
As a state-owned airline, Alitalia could always depend on the government to keep it flying, until the European Union stepped in and forbade financial support in 2006.
Source: New York Times
The 2000s then saw serious discussion into Alitalia's future with the Italian government wanting to sell its stake in the airline. The airline was opened for bidders in 2007 but yielded no results.
Source: New York Times
Air France-KLM Group, the parent company of Air France and KLM as well as several smaller European airlines, then offered to buy the struggling airline but couldn't get labor unions on board and the deal collapsed.
Source: Reuters
The Italian government, not wanting to lose its flag carrier, continued to prop up its airline via emergency loans in violation of European Union rules.
Source: European Union
The third attempt in two years to sell airline came after the Air France-KLM Group deal collapsed with an investors group forming the Compagnia Aerea Italiana to purchase the airline, despite heavy pushback from labor unions.
Source: Reuters
This Alitalia began operations in 2009, with Air France-KLM soon coming back into the picture taking a 25% stake from CAI.
Source: Financial Times
The new airline quickly began differentiating itself from its former self, leasing aircraft instead of purchasing them with the fleet consisting of the Airbus A330 family…
Source: FlightGlobal
It wasn't long before Alitalia was plagued with issues ranging from union strikes to underperforming subsidiaries and even a sting operation that saw Alitalia employees arrested for theft, according to contemporaneous news reports.
Source: New York Times and BBC
With bankruptcy looming in 2013, Alitalia secured another bailout with help from the government that highlighted the need for restructuring.
Source: New York Times
Alitalia saw a new investor in 2015, Eithad Airways, which would take a 49% stake in the airline and Alitalia - Compagnia Aerea Italiana became Alitalia - Societa Aerea Italiana.
Source: Alitalia
With a new investor in tow, Alitalia began cost-cutting measures but facing a backlash from employees due to planned job-cuts, the airline began bankruptcy proceedings and the government announced Alitalia would be auctioned.
Source: Reuters
Meanwhile, another airline was positioning itself to become the new Italian flag carrier, the aptly named Air Italy.
Rebranded from Meridiana, a regional Italian airline, Air Italy was jointly owned by private company Alisarda and Qatar Airways.
The airline chose Milan as its main hub ceding Rome to Alitalia. Long-haul flights from Milan to New York began in June 2018, with expansion to Asia happening soon after.
Affected by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max and without the Italian government as a benefactor, Air Italy closed up shop in early 2020, giving back full control of Italy to Alitalia.
While Air Italy was getting its start, the Italian government would once again seek outside investors with European, North American, and Asian airlines expressing interest in Alitalia.
One after the other, the airlines dropped their interest and ultimately, the Italian government re-nationalized the airline on March 17 during the coronavirus pandemic.
As airlines around the world retreated from the frontlines in an effort of self-preservation, it became clear that no airline acquisitions or mergers would be taking place, let alone for wounded Alitalia.
The Italian government was faced with seemingly no choice despite formerly vowing not to re-nationalize the airline as the spread of coronavirus and subsequent lockdown of Italy were slated to take the ultimate toll on Alitalia.
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