Alitalia history

Alitalia–Linee Aeree Italiane, Italian international airline founded in 1946 and, by the early 21st century, serving more than 80 cities in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Australia.

1947The first flight takes offOn 5 May 1947, Alitalia-Aereolinee Italiane Internazionali operated its first flight on the Turin-Rome-Catania route with a Fiat G-12.

In 1950, the four-engine DC4 entered service with flight attendants, dressed in uniforms designed by Sorelle Fontana, and serving hot meals with a high-quality and refined selection of food and beverages.

By the end of 1957 over 478,000 passengers had been carried by the fleet which had been expanded to include Convair-Metropolitans and Viscount 785s.

In 1960, The Rome Olympics Games were another important event of Alitalia history.

In 1967, the same year that it introduced its new tricolored "A" on the tail fins of its aircraft, Alitalia purchased several DC-9s for its medium-haul routes in Europe and the Middle East.

Landor has been commissioned to create the new brand by using elements of the previous design, designed by the same Landor in 1969.

Alitalia placed an order with Boeing and received its first 747 in May 1970.

In 1973 Alitalia expanded its wide-bodied fleet and took delivery of its first 275-seat DC-10/30.

Alitalia's gas-guzzling DC-8s and Caravelles were replaced by more efficient Boeing 727s, the first of which was put into service in 1976.

By 1980, despite the partial re-equipment program of the past few years, the airline's fleet had become outdated and inefficient; the average age of their aircraft ranged from six to eight years, generally older than those of the company's European competitors.

In 1982 the company was able to order McDonnell Douglas Super 80s to replace the aging Boeing 727s on medium-haul routes and also made plans to purchase more Boeing 747s to replace their fleet of DC-10s, the safety of which had been questioned following several accidents involving other airlines.

Beginning in September 1987 Alitalia was plagued by a series of disruptive strikes by pilots, cabin staff, and ground crew--an occurrence some thought reflected both senior management's inability to deal effectively with its employees and a general weakness in their long-term planning.

Aggressive marketing and competitive pricing in 1991 resulted in unexpectedly good results, including a 5.3 percent growth in its cargo operations against an average decrease of 2.7 percent for other European national carriers.

In March 1992 Alitalia announced an ambitious five-year investment plan calling for an allocation of over L4.4 trillion for expansion of the Alitalia fleet to 165 aircraft.

The carrier lost US$203 million in 1993.

On the plus side, Alitalia inked a quite lucrative marketing deal with United States-based Continental Airlines in May 1994.

In November 1995, an ambitious regional start-up began competing with Alitalia on the Milan-Rome route.

Tense negotiations resulted in a L2.75 billion recapitalization in 1997, pared from L3.3 billion.

Alitalia has more than 20 partner airlines; in 1998 the carrier teamed with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in a strategic alliance with far-reaching implications.

The airline was planning to implement a SABRE yield management system in 1999.

The Italian government was scheduled to divest its holdings in Alitalia entirely by 2000.

The KLM-Alitalia alliance was expected to capture 20 percent of the European passenger market by 2001, more than doubling each carrier's respective market share.

In 2005 to symbolize the repositioning of the company on the market it was decided the logotype restyling; the agency Saatchi & Saatchi opted for a gradient of logotype to the right and a partial rounding of the vertical rods.

On the 12th of December, 2008, Alitalia’s profitable assets were transferred to CAI.

In January 2009 Alitalia agreed to sell a quarter of its capital to Air France–KLM, pending the approval of its owners and European Union (EU) competition authorities.

In June 2014, Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi-based UAE national airline, announced it was taking a 49% stake in Alitalia.

2015A 2015 with a five stars futureFrom the first January the new Alitalia has begun its operations, an Italian company with a 49% of capital investment from Etihad Airways the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates.

In March 2017, the Board of Directors approved Alitalia’s turnaround business plan, which is supported by ‘four pillars of change’ and includes a range of radical and necessary measures across the whole of the company to stabilize it and secure its long-term sustainability.

In 2018, Alitalia was the 12th largest airline in Europe.