Last week's billion-dollar Air France-KLM bid for our struggling amici at Alitalia was going once, going twice... and frustratedly yanked off the table. The generally-awful Italian carrier is now a strong contender for the title of "Newest Bankrupt Airline in April," and we're only 10 days in.
Alitalia's fate has been hanging in the balance of Italy's recent--and trademark--political turmoil. The drama could reach a climax this weekend when Italians head to the polls to elect a new leader, the majority of whom support media mogul Silvio Berlusconi --whose nationlistic stance doesn't gel with the Air France-KLM deal.
When the captain of your Alitalia flight tells you to turn off your mobile, you'd better do it. After asking three passengers to stop chatting three times, he'd had enough and called in the cops. After they got dragged off the plane, everyone else could finally fly from Milan to Bari.
Normally we wouldn't give any press to these three jerks. But the fact that these were Italian guys makes this story so perfect. We can just picture them with their sweaters elegantly draped over their shoulders, hair perfectly coiffed, screaming into their tiny little phones.
Still, no matter how good you look, you gotta follow the rules on airplanes. Even in Italy.
Remember back in the summer of 2005 when we were stoked for the age of Eurofly? Well now it is time to check in on how things are going for the low-fare kid sister trying to emerge from the shadow of Alitalia.
The former subsidiary of Italy's largest airline broke away from its parent company in 2005 and started offering additional destinations earlier this year, including Pescara and Lamezia Terme.
Round trip flights start at $800, according to a recent profile in National Geographic Traveler of no-frills airlines crossing the Atlantic these days. We did a quick Expedia search and found a round trip ticket from JFK to Rome on Alitalia in mid-July for $798. In fact, a story in USA Today says a sample fare from JFK to Rome on Eurofly costs $1,159 (including taxes and fees) versus $1,283 on a major carrier. By foregoing the extra flight options and legroom, you save enough to cover cab fare to and from the airport.
So is Eurofly the Jan to Alitalia's Marcia? Not according to Gianfranco Zaccai at Business Week, who says Alitalia fails to offer travelers extra comfort and needs to take a tip from Ikea about customer service. We're not seeing a connection between our old dorm-room dresser and a trans-Atlantic flight, but apparently the two are linked.
