October 10, 2020 / Bye Bye Alitalia SAI (Società Aera Italiana), welcome Alitalia ITA (Italia Trasporto Aereo). The umpteenth version of the ever-troubled Italian national carrier was officially launched yesterday, as the government signed the decree which gives life to the entity announced in June 2020. AZ had been in a regime of special administration for the past two years, surviving only by means of ‘loans’ coming from the Italian State. As the Coronavirus pandemic outbroke, the decision of the government was for a complete nationalization of the airline, which is now 100% property of the Italian State.

The decree signed yesterday night officialises the role of Francesco Caio as President and Fabio Maria Lazzerini as CEO, with a board made of seven members which includes Frances Ouseley, former Director for Italy at Easyjet (U2) from 2012 to 2018. Francesco Caio, 63, is a long-course high-profile manager, both in the private and public sectors, including experiences as president of the board at Lehman Brothers Europe and CEO at Poste Italiane, the Italian postal service. Fabio Maria Lazzerini, 56, has been director for Italy at Emirates Airlines (EK) from 2013 to 2017, before entering Alitalia as Chief Commercial Officer. He is also member of the board at Enit, the Italian national agency for tourism.

According to Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s most important newspaper for economics and finance, the new Alitalia has assets for EUR 20mln, but it is expected to receive State funds for up to EUR 3bln in order to proceed with the renewal of the fleet and the opening of new routes in the years to come. Some EUR 12bln have arrived to the airline from the Italian State since the half of the 1970s, according to Italian media. The future of the airline, in point of fleet, should evolve around the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the long-haul, and around the Airbus A320 (ceo or neo) and the Airbus A220 (-100 and -300) on the short and medium-haul. (Photo Alitalia)