Alitalia’s effective makeover says a lot about the nature of the airline industry (“Maiden flight by ITA brings down curtain on Alitalia era”, Report, October 16). Carriers, including so-called low-cost ones, all operate the same types of aircraft with the same seats, share the same passenger systems, fly out of the same airports, utilise the same airspace and air traffic control, go generally to the same destinations and pull up to the same terminals.
Their inventory is open and visible, and is booked on common search engines. They are overseen by the same regulatory authorities, and comply with the same rules. They buy their fuel from the same vendors, and share the same parts suppliers and conduct maintenance often at shared outsource providers. This describes a commodity.
So what then makes an airline an airline? Beyond paint schemes and branding, the only differentiating factors are cost, contracts and management. These three factors, often temporary, control the carrier’s economic performance, but they don’t necessarily have much positive impact on what the final product looks and feels like to a passenger, when you ultimately step on board and take your seat. It is still often disappointing, as the carriers are stripped down to the most basic of amenities, in order to “compete”, and the seats are still not ones that generally conform to the shape of a human body.
It is a shame that Alitalia failed. The nature of its problems, which even low-cost carriers eventually must face, were not complicated, and in a more smartly regulated system, could have been overcome.
Matt Andersson
President, Indigo Aerospace
Letter: Alitalia’s demise leaves sector in holding pattern
Pinoy Variant