Italy’s former flag carrier, once controlled by the government until financial realities, labor strife, mismanagement and the new EU political rules denying the airlines ever increasing tax money eventually strangled the airline, is flying again as a private carrier. But its problems seem remarkably similar to the old Alitalia.
The new smaller and private Alitalia’s maiden voyage to Sao Paulo, Brazil, left on time, however, that was just about all that went smoothly on the new carrier and new network’s first day. Gates were occupied when they shouldn’t have been, baggage was lost, flights were late, workers were protesting and sitting down on the job, but there weren’t any full strikes.
That changed a week later when the fledgling airline was hit with its first strike.
A union representing flight attendants, ground workers and pilots staged the first strike against the new Alitalia on Monday, a week after the privatized airline took off.
The four-hour strike by the SDL union was called to protest hiring policies at the new Italian carrier and began at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT). Alitalia said the strike caused the cancellation of four flights – between Paris and Rome and between Venice and Rome.
Wildcat protests at Rome and Milan airports marred the launch of the new Alitalia last Tuesday, causing some delays and cancellations, but Monday’s was the first scheduled strike in the company’s new life.
The new Alitalia seems to still have the same union problems that the old Alitalia had, however the organization fat and extra aircraft have been pared significantly. The workforce was slashed by about 50 percent.
Even more significantly, Alitalia’s investors have partnered with Air France/KLM. Few airlines know how to navigate the tubulent skies of labor relations better than Air France. Let’s hope that the blend of Italian and French management techniques allows management-labor relations to cool and that the new Alitalia can prosper.
Look for a better Italian network of flights and more and more international flights connecting through Paris or Amsterdam. On paper, the new, smaller and more nimble airline should be able to fly straight, but that doesn’t take into account the wild world of Italian labor relations.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
