Never Again, AlItalia

You would think an air carrier has a limited number of screw-ups. For instance, they can lose your luggage once or cancel your flight, or not serve you lunch, or forget about the English translation of their on-board announcement. But, let me tell you, Italy’s AlItalia definitely breaks the record and wins first prize for most screw-ups.


On 27th August I arrived at St. Petersburg Pulkovo airport with only carry-on luggage and had to live for three days with the several clothing items I had in my backpack and lady’s purse. On 21st December I arrived at Sofia airport with these same belongings for 3 more days. Both times my red suitcase was wandering somewhere without me in the unknown company of AlItalia staff.

Of course, lost luggage is nothing new and, when eventually found and returned, makes for a good story. Cancellation of flights, however, is truly scary. When my friend residing in Italy called me the night before her flight to St. Petersburg to inform me that AlItalia had cancelled her domestic flight “with no alternatives available,” I thought she was joking. Less than 24 hours before her actual flight, she had received an email notification about these urgent travel changes. Apparently, it was “due to protests by Alitalia employees opposed to the carrier's takeover by Italian businessmen.” (www.fxstreet.com) Nearly 100 AlItalia flights were cancelled in November due to the same reason.

On 20th December when I was already standing in line for the security check at the St. Petersburg Pulkovo II airport, I looked up at the digital departures board only to see that my flight to Rome was cancelled. Panic. After a good amount of stress, I ended up flying to Rome though Milan where I had only half an hour to transfer. I hadn’t received any lunch or decent snack besides two thumb-size biscuits.
Having arrived in Bulgaria, exhausted, hungry and without my baggage, I sighed with relief, “Never again, Alitalia!”