The new company, whose official name was announced this Friday, will have a green-white-red logo, which is inspired by that of the historic national airline, announced the general manager, Fabio Lazzerini. This restructuring seeks to create a “sustainable” and “profitable” company, he explained.
We don’t want to forget Alitalia’s glorious past, but it will be a total rebirth.
Alitalia, founded on May 5, 1947, was the symbol of Italy’s economic miracle after World War II, becoming the seventh airline in the world in the 70s, before entering a long decline, which has worsened in the last years.
Its history is intertwined with that of the country: the first hostesses arrived on board in 1950, Alitalia became the official carrier of the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 and surpassed the million passenger mark, Paul VI was the first pope to fly in it in 1964 and Antonella Celletti, the first woman to pilot one of its planes in 1989.
It was our national flagship, symbol of the history of this country
“We watched with deep sadness the end of Alitalia, which was our national flagship, a symbol of the history of this country,” said Laura Facchini, 47, a flight attendant of Alitalia for 20 years.
Like so many others, he requested in vain to become part of the ITA staff as part of the first batch of 2,800 people hired this year. Between now and 2022, 5,750 employees must be hired, out of a total of 10,500 that Alitalia has.