I flew for airlines in both "civilized and less civilized countries", including Italy for quite a while.
What I have witnessed in Italy, from an aviation standpoint, I would describe as "definitely not very civilized".
FTL's and scheduling practices are very often borderline and exceptions become the norm not to mention management's pressures and the authority's blind eyes.
I can't say I have seen such things say in Germany or the UK....I surely have elsewhere more east or south however....
And by the way, I'm Italian!