starone,
to answer your question, Alitalia is 60something% state owned (while AF is 56%) and has been reporting loss for ages. So did Sabena.
The big difference I see in AF with private companies, is that while now one of AF's program points is "etre rentable pour financer l'avenir" (=finance the future), it is very unlikely that they would be allowed to do so once privatised, as it happened to other companies before...the company would be sucked dry of any profit and left in poor shape for times of crisis, as it is happening to most who have no reserve to face the downturn.
"MATE", swallow the bitter pill: AF is a healthy company and thanks to its boss has been doing the right things for a while. Bringing up old legends only demonstrates you are not up to date.