The bankrupt national carrier will cease operations Monday evening at 10 p.m., with a seven-hour break before the new Alitalia SpA takes flight with a 6:00 a.m. Tuesday departure from London’s Heathrow airport bound for Rome.
The new airline — the merger of Alitalia’s profitable assets with the much smaller Air One — is slimmer, with 148 aircraft from both airlines combined, compared with 173 in the old fleet, and about 12,500 employees, down from more than 23,500 between the two airlines.
There will be nothing manifestly different about the new Alitalia. The logo remains the same, as do the stylish green flight crew uniforms. The fleet will be newer after the incoming owners declined to take on older, less-efficient planes, and the flight plan is streamlined to serve 70 destinations, just 13 of those intercontinental.
But Alitalia, now as in the past, is likely to continue to be hampered by labor woes that have contributed to its financial straits.
Unions unhappy with some of the hiring regime have pledged to mar the new Alitalia’s launch with protests Tuesday.
“For us, the new Alitalia is nothing to celebrate,” said Francesco Staccoli of the SDL union representing 1,800 flight attendants and ground workers.
Unions are dissatisfied with the hiring process, and Staccoli predicted nearly three times more workers would end up on welfare roles than the 3,250 that the government has pledged to compensate.
The Alitalia board is to meet Monday to decide whether to accept a bid by Air France-KLM to buy a minority stake in the carrier.
The Franco-Dutch airline did not release details of the bid after a board meeting Friday, but it clearly is less comprehensive than the offer it made last year for the government’s controlling 49.9 percent stake. That offer had valued the airline at euro139 million ($216 million), far less than had been expected, but it had also pledged to take on the company’s debt, then some euro1.3 billion.
The bid failed under opposition from conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi, who then went to win elections and, once in the premier’s seat, sought a group of Italian investors to keep the flagship carrier in national hands.
The consortium led by scooter-maker Piaggio chief Roberto Colaninno won control of Alitalia with a euro1.052 billion ($1.4 billion) deal, including euro625 million in Alitalia’s debt, which in the meantime has ballooned to at least euro3.2 billion.
Italy’s transportation authority ENAC will mark the passage from the old Alitalia to the new with a signing ceremony Monday evening. Its inspectors will then spend the night approving for operation the 93 Alitalia planes it is taking over.
The remaining aircraft are among the assets that the bankruptcy administrator Augusto Fantozzi is charged with selling off. While Fantozzi said this fall that there had been bidders, deals were still being finalized.
Fantozzi said he expects to sell off the cargo business by the end of the month as well as overseeing the reorganization of the maintenance business.
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A spokesman for passengers who arrived 32 hours late in Sofia, Bulgaria last Saturday, has reported that they are suing the airline, easyJet.
Approximately 120 passengers are suing for compensation after their flight on Saturday from Gatwick airport was diverted to Bucharest, Romania. On the following Monday they reached Sofia, after a 12-hour journey by coach.
EasyJet flight EZY8977 was on route to Sofia when the pilot informed passengers that the Sofia airport was closed due to heavy snows. He continued on, landing in Bucharest at 2:00am local time, at which time the passengers were provided with accommodation at a nearby hotel.
On Sunday, the passengers were forced to wait until 6:00pm before the coaches arrived to take them to Sofia. It was reported that the Romanian coach drivers didn’t know the way to Sofia and had to consult maps as they drove on icy roads in temperatures as low as -15C.
In an apology to passengers, the airline asserted that it had been advised clearly and repeatedly that the airport was closed due to heavy snow.
Officials at the Sofia airport, disputed the claims made by easyJet, saying that the airport remained open and other planes were landing without difficulty. The airport’s executive director, Plamen Stanchev, commented that he had no idea why the pilot wouldn’t land. “Within 30 minutes of the flight from London refusing to land, seven other aircraft made flights,” he noted.
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Passengers were informed over the weekend as they arrived for their flights that Zambian Airways had cancelled their flights, thus leaving hundreds stranded and having to make their own alternative travel arrangements.
Zambian Airways cited the increase in jet fuel over the last 18 months which pushed up the operational costs of the company.
This is a massive blow to Zambia’s industry in general as Zambian Airways were the only airline flying to some airports on it’s network. The leisure sector will be hit very hard as the airline had played a big part in opening up the county to tourism, providing a vital link for local an international travellers to tourist destinations across Zambia.
Can this airline survive it’s current predicament? With debts reported to be in the region of US$ 25-30 million a govt. bail out for a private business seems unlikely. Can it attract new investors? Zambian Airways have probably already tried and, sadly, would appear to have failed.
There is no information available at this time for passengers who hold tickets or have reservations for Zambian Airways flights.We would suggest that customers with bookings contact their travel agent/tour operator for advice.
The new online system is run by the US Department of Homeland Security as part of its Visa Waiver Programme and the authorisation, which it is recommended should be filled out 72 hours before departure, will replace the green slips travellers currently fill out once on their flights.
The registration allows for multiple entries and is valid for up to two years and has been introduced in order to ensure those wishing to visit the US have permission to do so before boarding their flights.
It is hoped the changes will help cut down on wasted journeys for people denied entry upon their arrival to the US.
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It won’t make things any worse, is the government’s less than convincing promise for an expanding Heathrow. Ministers claim they will back the business case for a near 50 per cent increase in flights that can be achieved without extra pollution or noise. Opponents say this requires a lot of wishful thinking, not to mention fixing the facts around the policy, and – at best – sacrificing a cleaner, quieter future. Chris Ames looks at the issues involved
In spite of a reported Cabinet split and falling demand for air travel, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon is expected to confirm government support for a third Heathrow runway and a sixth terminal, opening around 2020. In the meantime, mixed mode operation – using both existing runways simultaneously for take off and landing – will allow more flights from around 2012.
The idea that this can be done within “strict environmental conditions” is at the heart of the government’s case for expansion, as set out initially in the 2003 Air Transport White Paper. But the Department for Transport (DfT) seems less concerned about resultant road congestion.
In September, the government’s watchdog, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), observed that “the public debate about aviation policy looks immature”. It was pleading for the precautionary principle to apply – for decisions on expanding air travel to be taken only when the consequences are fully understood. At present, the SDC says, even the evidence base for calculating the costs and benefits cannot be agreed.
With the third runway fast becoming one of the symbolic issues in British politics, the debate has divided Labour and the Tories along surprising lines. At stake is not just the future of the UK’s aviation policy but the government’s relationship with business and environmental credentials.
Labour in government cannot help giving the impression that it talks to vested interests and then colludes with them to fix its consultation. It has been caught conspiring with airport owner BAA to present forecasts that environmental criteria would be met within the expansion. Goalposts are moved. Attempts to delay implementation of the EU air quality directive have been linked to predictions that even a pre-expansion Heathrow will breach it.
Conversely, it suits the Tories to be seen as “seriously green” and not in the pocket of big business. When Tory plans to scrap the new runway and build a high-speed rail link instead were slammed by British Airways, among others, they fought back, accusing BA of spinning.
It is unlikely that the forthcoming decision will be the end of the debate. The DfT’s September 2007 risk register, disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, recorded concerns that a judicial review could seriously delay the whole process. Opponents are already claiming that even the extended consultation process has been inadequate.
Planning consent for any significant expansion would be considered by the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) rather than Hillingdon Council, within whose backyard the airport lies. Keith Burrows, the council’s cabinet member for planning and transportation, complains that taking such decisions out of its hands is “likely to reduce local and strategic influence on major developments which are destined to have significant impacts on the quality of life for residents in Hillingdon”.
The IPC will be required to decide planning applications on the basis of national policy statements (NPS) and the government is expected to publish an NPS on airports from 2009. The implications of this are intriguing. With millions of extra car journeys predicted, the DfT assessed as “high” the risk that solutions to local road congestion could prove difficult to deliver or “politically unacceptable”. But its consultation document made clear that it only considered detailed solutions in the context of air quality, which is likely to require different approaches. Burrows says: “Even with the optimistic view of a shift to public transport use, there remains a distinct gap in how the incredible pressure on the roads around Heathrow will be managed.”
A DfT spokesman told Public Servant: “If policy approval for a third runway is confirmed, it would be for the airport operator, as part of a comprehensive transport assessment, to work with the Highways Agency and local authorities to identify any new or changed demand management measures.”
So the possibility arises that BAA could submit a planning application for the runway without a plausible solution to road congestion. Faced with a strong steer from the government, will the IPC
feel able to reject the application on these grounds – or wave through an application that will result in traffic chaos?
The case for expansion is first that revenue from additional travel will benefit the UK economy and secondly that the success of British business depends on sustaining Heathrow’s links with the rest of the world. Tied up with each of these is the question of whether a new runway is needed to maintain Heathrow’s position as a major “hub” airport, with the widest possible range of domestic and international destinations.
The direct contribution of air travel to the UK economy is a matter of some dispute. Although annual income from passengers arriving by air is estimated to be in the region of £11bn, Friends of the Earth points out that outward air travellers spend more than double this abroad. Calculations of the economics of air travel in future are complicated by uncertainties over the pricing of oil and carbon emissions.
The government argues that Heathrow’s status as a hub is threatened if it does not expand, pointing out that Amsterdam Schiphol, with five run-ways, already serves more UK airports. It quotes research showing that 70 per cent of foreign companies make their first location in Britain within one hour of Heathrow.
Opponents of expansion point out that the range of long- and short-haul destinations served by Heathrow is limited by airlines’ concentration on popular destinations like New York and on six domestic and European routes, which are – or could be – served by a high-speed rail link. The Campaign for Better Transport says improved railway links and videoconferencing technology could reduce the need for business air travel while the London Assembly argues that London’s financial sector has grown in spite of the airport’s poor reputation and reduced reach.
But David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says British business understands the need for a sustainable future, but adds: “UK plc will suffer if we do not allow Heathrow to expand. At a time when companies are struggling in a tough economic climate, it would be foolish to place needless obstacles in the way of what is essential expansion.”
Whatever the national benefits, much of the downside to a third runway will be felt locally, not least by the village of Sipson, which would disappear entirely. Councils from Hillingdon to Wandsworth are opposed while London mayor Boris Johnson’s office told Public Servant that he remains “very much” against the runway, in spite of public pressure from business leaders. Johnson has ordered a feasibility study into the possibility of a new airport in the Thames Estuary, which could replace Heathrow altogether.
As well as traffic congestion, noise and pollution are two key issues for local communities. The government says expansion of Heathrow depends on it not making these worse, but it is relying on claims that technological improvements will provide the scope for sustainable expansion.
The DfT says Heathrow will not be expanded if the “footprint” over which noise nuisance is experienced increases beyond its size in 2002. This is based on a level equivalent to at least 57 decibels, which was the accepted point for the onset of community disturbance. But the government’s own attitudes-to-noise study reported that there is no particular threshold and that disturbance can be felt at a level equivalent to 50dB, affecting many more people.
The government is also relying on assumptions that cleaner trains and road vehicles will help keep pollution down. Many see this as wishful thinking. Lord Chris Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency and a former Labour minister, says: “It is absolutely certain that nitrogen dioxide levels will go way beyond what they ought to be for the sake of human health.”
The aviation industry is also pushing the idea that greener planes will mitigate an increased contribution towards global warming, but the government acknowledges that the industry will nevertheless have to buy carbon credits for additional flights.
At this point the phrase “strict environmental conditions” rings somewhat hollow as the costs of the expanding Heathrow become global as well as local. As Green Party leader and MEP Caroline Lucas says: “Any government which, on the one hand pledges to make significant reductions in greenhouse gases by 2020, while at the same time committing to the greatest expansion of aviation in a generation, is quite simply living in a fantasy land.”
