el#, you asking the question shows that you will be unable to see the mess that Italy is. I am not here to give a history lesson. Maybe my opinion has to do with the endemic corruption in Italy. Maybe it has to do with the fact that Italy is working off the almost sixtieth government since the formation of the democratic republic in 1946 (yes, that is close to 1 new government per year). Do I need to go into Mr. Berlusconi record and past, a little searching on the internet will come up with enough examples, dating to his rise in the sixties to his earlier prime minister stints. This is but one quote: “Silvio Berlusconi has an extensive record of criminal prosecutions, for alleged offenses including mafia collusion, false accounting, tax fraud, corruption and bribery of police officers and judges”. The Italian people keep reelecting leaders like this, the lack of his convictions shows enough what kind of legal framework Italy has developed. I could go on and on.
Alitalia is a microcosm of what Italy is. Overstaffed, grossly inefficient, and totally clueless. Which is all fine by me if it didn’t impact my industry, but we are interlinked much more these days through the EU, and Euro. And the mess down there affects us all, especially in this business.
In the USA around 500 aircraft will be grounded over the winter, many never to return to service. It would be the equivalent of an Airline like Northwest Airlines shutting down. This might be enough for the industry to regain its footing. If Alitalia would shutdown, as it should, it would do the same in Europe. Whatever vacuum comes about would be filled, by more efficient better run airlines than the dinosaur that became extinct.
