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(CNN) -
Ciao ciao, Alitalia.
The historic Italian airline announced that it will stop issuing tickets, which has triggered a countdown of a few weeks until its familiar red and green distinctive colors disappear for good from our skies.
The nationally owned airline will be replaced in October by ITA, a smaller company with a different logo, but the service that once brought Italian pride, style and cuisine, not to mention the pope, to every corner. of the planet, it will disappear.
While Alitalia's disappearance may be a loss for many Italians, it is unlikely to come as a surprise.
The airline has spent the last decades on the brink of collapse as authorities scrambled to forge lifesaving partnerships with investors and other global airlines.
"On each occasion she has managed to be rescued, although with the sole result of prolonging her agony even more," says Giovanni Orsina, director of the School of Government at LUISS University, based in Rome.
Alitalia, founded 74 years ago, in its days was known by Italians as "freccia alata" (winged arrow) in honor of speed, it will definitely retire.
The tails of its planes bore the popular logo of a capital "A" shaped like an airplane wing and colored like the Italian flag.
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Apart from its cuisine and its car brands, it was perhaps one of the most recognized symbols of Italy abroad.
When Italian families came home from a distant trip and set foot on an Alitalia plane, and the stewardess greeted them with a warm "buongiorno" and served them steaming spaghetti with tomato sauce and cotoletta alla Milanese to eat, it was like back home.
To kill time, passengers could read the Italian national newspapers.
Papal blessing
Popes have been regular Alitalia passengers since the 1960s.
Credit: Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP / Getty Images
Alitalia prides itself on Italian food and style.
In the 1950s, flight attendants wore elegant uniforms designed by the haute couture house Sorelle Fontana.
In later years, an impressive roster that included Delia Biagiotti, Alberto Fabiani, Renato Balestra, and even Giorgio Armani created elegant suits and comfortable seats.
The hot Italian cuisine served on board sometimes made the company a favorite with international travelers.
Luxury Italian perfumes, watches, handkerchiefs and ties were sold in
the
duty free
.
In less enlightened times, husbands returning from a long-haul flight brought their wives the latest in boutique fashions.
The airline also had the blessing of the religious authorities.
From 1964 it was the official airline of the Pope, and the size of the plane varied depending on the distance traveled.
The plane carrying the pope used to be called "Shepherd One", the papal equivalent of Air Force One, and received the flight number AZ4000.
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Not everything was glamor and prestige for Alitalia.
Over the past 30 years, the Italian government has invested billions of euros in the airline in an attempt to save it from extinction and keep its employees in their jobs.
But, according to Orsina, the airline simply could not cope with global competition or adapt to changes in the aviation sector.
"The fall of Alitalia is the definitive symbol of Italy's innate and historical difficulty in coping with globalization and increasing competition," he tells CNN.
"The travel industry has undergone a revolution while Alitalia was stagnant, drowned out by corporations, lobbies, unions and political pressure to keep it afloat despite its problems and the reality of an evolving industry."
Alitalia showed little resilience, says Orsina.
It couldn't keep up with the arrival of efficient low-cost carriers, which operate with smaller crews and offer more competitive rates, newer aircraft, and a broader list of global destinations.
Despite the fact that Italy has always been a popular tourist destination, Alitalia's profits continued to fall due to increasing competition, debts piled up and bankruptcy ensued.
The company passed into extraordinary administration several times.
Numerous rescue missions were organized without long-term success.
"Hitting bottom"
Some of the best Italian fashion designers have contributed to the Alitalia cabin crew uniforms.
Riccardo De Luca / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
The aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, which strongly affected the aviation industry, dealt a severe blow to Alitalia, but the fatal blow was probably the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The authorities continued to resuscitate it, believing that Alitalia could not fail, but there are limits and we have hit rock bottom," said Orsina.
"It's like curing a terminally ill patient. You can try to make him feel less pain for a while, but not forever. That's therapeutic stubbornness."
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The rise and fall of Alitalia
Alitalia's golden age began in the 1950s, when post-WWII reconstruction sparked an economic boom in Italy and families were finally able to afford to fly to faraway places.
"Italy was a defeated country recovering from the wounds of World War II and Alitalia came to represent collective hope and national identity," says aerospace industry expert Gregory Alegi.
"It conveyed a feeling of belonging."
With the advent of the jet age, the 1960 Olympics in Rome helped spread Alitalia's fame around the world - the company even created a poster that featured a javelin thrower with a plane flying overhead.
"Having a state airline was a necessity for Italy, an icon of national pride and patriotism," says Orsina.
"Italy could not afford not to have one, it was like having the police and carabinieri corps. Alitalia was an indispensable accessory of the State because it was like having a piece of Italy flying around the world," says Orsina.
Alitalia's troubles began in the 1990s, when European deregulation made air traffic more competitive and Italian railways were strengthened, according to aerospace expert Alegi.
Delays and cancellations
Alitalia has been flying for 74 years.
(Touring Club Italiano / Marka / Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
The situation worsened when the authorities tried to privatize Alitalia, which unleashed an endless search for transport partners and businessmen willing to support the State to face the challenges of a free market.
All the associations failed, while the unions fought against the layoff plans.
And although Alitalia was loved as a symbol, it was often loathed by its passengers.
The endless crisis ended up causing a decline in the quality of service, says Orsina, with staff strikes, flight delays or cancellations and fewer long-distance trips.
The Italians began to get frustrated.
According to recent polls, most of them believe that the state should have stopped funding the company with taxpayers' money long ago.
That hasn't dampened the nostalgia retired pilots, captains, and flight attendants feel for the old days, when salaries were high and work brought benefits and prestige.
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Rosetta Scrugli, a former Alitalia passenger who regularly flew to Asia for work, complains that union protests have caused her to miss important meetings abroad.
"The flight was late or often even canceled," he says.
"I spent hours waiting in the terminal, and my luggage was lost several times. It is nice to fly with a national company if things go well, otherwise it can be hell. Patriotism has nothing to do, efficiency is the key ".
Scrugli also complained that Alitalia used to fly to Asia via Milan, with no direct flights from Rome.
Although little is yet known about the airline's successor, according to Alegi, there is hope that ITA will succeed where Alitalia has failed.
But since it will be state-owned, at least in the short term, no one expects it to be an immediate success.
Airline Italy