One of the real problems Italy has as a tourist destination is that it has not had a dominant airline for years. Alitalia did not succeed in this, and neither has Ita Airways. Our airports are moorlands of conquest for countless airlines, especially the low-cost carriers. A strong Italian airline would organically occupy strategic cities, as happens in Great Britain, Germany, France and Spain. In Italy this does not happen, and for a very obvious reason. The main Italian airline does not have the strength to expand because it is excessively overrun by vested interests, particularly political interests.
Now without taking anything away from Ita Airways’ chairman Alfredo Altavilla - who worked alongside Sergio Marchionne in the car sector, not in the airline sector - he is clearly not an expert on air transport, which is why he should not have been given the job. It should have gone to someone who had been in the business since he was a child. Someone who knows the world of aviation inside out. Who knows his way around and is not just a good salesman. Perhaps only then would Ita Airways have stood a chance. Right from the start it was denied this chance.
Giuseppe Aloe
Editor in Chief
