Alitalia e The failure of a national carrier

Alitalia e The failure of a national carrier

Journal: Air Transport Management

Author: Paolo Beria, Hans-Martin Niemeier, Karsten Fröhlich

Published: 2011

Abstract

The paper examines the case of Alitalia, Italy’s former flag carrier, as a case of a state-managed failure. The history of the airline is characterized by a continuous decline in its competitive position since the progressive liberalization of the European aviation market. The root cause of this decline lies in the carrier being mainly used as a political tool rather than operating as a competitive firm. In a liberalized market this doomed Alitalia to failure, which was artificially delayed by numerous state financial and regulatory interventions. The paper starts with a historical overview of the most important events in recent Alitalia history. Thereafter the main causes of the airline’s weak competitive position relative to other European carriers are analyzed. We argue that the underlying causes of the decline were continuous political protection, lack of strategic views in favor of short-term objectives, and poor managerial decisions.

Keywords: European transport liberalization, Airline competition, Airline privatization, Alitalia

 براي دريافت نسخه کامل مقاله فوق، فرم زير را تکميل نماييد: