Alitalia is in line with its objectives for 2015 and intends to speed up its recovery plan, but “the search for the new chief executive officer may still take two, four, six months. We don't have the gun pointed: we will continue to search until we have identified the right candidate based on many parameters". This is the message launched today by the president of the airline, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, during a meeting with the press in Fiumicino.
The former CEO, Silvano Cassano, resigned last month "due to a completely personal choice", continued Montezemolo, underlining that, in any case, "the three-year plan which envisages a return to profit in 2017 is confirmed: it doesn't change a millimeter. In the third quarter, we achieved an aircraft fill rate of 80,3%, the highest level since before 2007. Now we want to accelerate”.
With this in mind, Alitalia has announced the opening of new routes to Latin America (Rome-Santiago de Chile and Rome-Mexico City), as well as new services for customers (including wi-fi connection on the entire fleet by April 2016, new VIP lounges and free chauffeurs for business customers), new interiors for medium-haul aircraft and investments in personnel and ground services for Fiumicino. News that will not arrive at the end of the plan, but within a few months. Overall, 18 million euros will be invested in the fleet over the next 190 months. Finally, the new website will arrive in November.
"We have paid and continue to pay a very high price for what happened at Fiumicino and for the loss of the route to Caracas", continued the airline's Chairman, however stating that he was certain that "by the end of 2016 Alitalia will have a dedicated terminal” in the Roman airport, “which will also become a showcase for Made in Italy”. Speaking to some AMS workers on the sidelines of the press conference, Montezemolo recalled that "last year Alitalia was a bankrupt company: this year it is losing 700 euros a day, but it aims to lose less and less and break even in 2017" .
On the source of the connections, the President underlined that “in these few months of collaboration with Etihad Alitalia has opened more routes than in the last 5 years. One of the strong themes is the connection of northern Italy with Germany, because Etihad also means Air Berlin. We are also aiming to intensify connections with the islands and are talking with Delta to increase the number of destinations and the number of frequencies in the United States. We are also working to open the Rome-Beijing route."
As for relations with the Government, the President of Alitalia complained about the lack of a tourism plan: “We need to be supported – he added -. When we open new routes we certainly support our business, but also Italian tourism. If Alitalia opens a route to Seoul, Italy needs to be promoted in Korea. Tourism means money and we also need a large tour operator for incoming. Italy needs a tourist plan and Alitalia can make a great contribution in this sense”.
James Hogan, vice president of Alitalia and number one of Etihad (the Abu Dhabi giant which controls 49% of the Italian carrier), said that "the three-year plan will have an important impact on Italy as a tourist destination and as a production of of work. Alitalia will become part of the global organization of Etihad and its partners: our goal is to integrate the networks, to create new connections for the Italian market. In this way Alitalia will achieve its profitability objectives and consolidate its position on the market".
