Once a symbol of Italy's post-war economic boom, Alitalia filed for bankruptcy last year, succumbing to union strife, high costs and mismanagement. A group of Italian investors bought its best parts, leaving the rest to the Italian state.
After months of haggling with unions and frenetic talks with politicians seeking to save local airports, Alitalia flight AZ 676 to Sao Paolo took off promptly at 0610 am from Milan on the carrier's first flight under a new network and new owners.
The new Alitalia maintains the carrier's brand and livery, but its new owners have revamped its flight network, axed a third of the work force and partnered with larger rival Air France-KLM in a bid to return it to a profit.
With its operations merged with those of smaller rival Air One, Alitalia will fly to 47 foreign and 23 Italian destinations in the new network. It targets increasing its market share to 56 percent from 30 percent and results breaking even in two years.
He who laughs last obviously has'nt heard the bad news.