Its all about the class codes available for interline on Comair for BA versus KL, AF, etc! Also Comair have been buying surplus BA mainline aircraft for peanuts for years!
Alitalia has been getting government bailouts for years, they had to stop now due to EU regulations! The Italian Government own 51% of Alitalia and have guaranteed the 1.2 Billion Euro debt - thats exactly how US carriers get subsidised!
1 Time are the only guys who don't get subsidies:
Comair - subsidised by BA mainline
SA Express - subsidised by SA government
SA Airlink - subsidised by franchise agreement and feed from SAA
SAA - not in doubt