Last week Alitalia (finally?) went into bankruptcy. Both Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are possible new investors, according to ATW Online. I certainly think is the best route and it is one that has worked in the past. When Swiss was doing poorly it was acquired by Lufthansa, who operates Swiss as an independent carrier but has made it much more successful. I did find one interesting part of the article:
According to Agence France Presse, the new legislation allows bankrupt companies to speed up the selling of shares and employee reductions while relaxing antitrust rules, which would allow Air One to be combined into the new streamlined carrier.
That’s an option I had not seen in the past. The reason I find it interesting is that Air One has a strong partnership with Lufthansa – strong enough to put the Lufthansa logo on some planes. They are also a member of Lufthansa’s Miles & More frequent flyer program. I wonder if this angle makes Lufthansa more likely or less likely to be involved in a new Alitalia.
On a side note, this news item made me think of the current debate about giving antitrust immunity to American, British Airlines, and other Oneworld airlines antitrust immunity. If anything, the reorganization of Alitalia should convince regulators to approve their application. If either Lufthansa or Air France-KLM acquires Alitalia, it gives that airline (and its alliance) some more transatlantic power. If I recall correctly, Star (Lufthansa) and SkyTeam (Air France-KLM) already have antitrust immunity. Not giving it to Oneworld isn’t the right move, I think.
Edit: I neglected to mention that Alitalia is currently a member of SkyTeam.
Well, about bloody time that something happened Alitalia. But as I said somewhere else I think it is rather funny to see that Lufthansa is always mentioned these days when a European carrier is struggling with its business. Honestly, are we supposed to buy everyone out there?