If you love Alitalia so much, Silvio, why don’t you just marry it?

Alitalia, the feline airline with nine lives, may yet live, according to AP and Financial Times stories. (The FT lede says that the lack of a “Plan B” may keep Alitalia flying. In the real world, the lack of a Plan B means liquidation.) No one wants to buy this basket case of an airline, [...]

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I didn’t think Alitalia had a prayer. . . .

. . . but they apparently have advocates in high places.
(H/T: Things with Wings)

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Berlusconi wins, Alitalia loses

With Silvio Berlusconi’s expected victory in this week’s elections, Air France-KLM is “poised to walk away from a deal” to acquire failing and flailing state airline Alitalia, reports the Telegraph. Berlusconi has expressed his hostility to the proposed deal, already on the rocks due to union opposition, calling it “unacceptable and, indeed, offensive for our [...]

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“Good feelings won’t pay Alitalia’s bill, and with Berlusconi’s impending government likely to hobble Alitalia’s chances of being acquired, bankruptcy does seems inevitable.”

My article about the Alitalia privatization debacle — and how it’s being complicated by next week’s elections in Italy — is now up at Forbes.com.

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“If airlines aren’t healthy enough to survive, governments should let them go. Don’t try to prop them up.”

Wise words from The Cranky Flier regarding government impulses to bail out failing airlines. Let the market work; it does a great job of responding to demand and generating better service than a nearsighted embrace of the status quo does.

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