Alitalia flight attendant warns of tribulation to come

An Alitalia flight attendant wrote a long series of blog entries recently under the pen-name “Aviator AZ,” in which he gave some inside information on the type of problems that plague flights operated by the airline on a daily basis. According to a report in Britain’s The Independent, the anonymous steward wrote about how his uniform was torn due to a screw that protruded out of the jump-seat. The blogging steward claimed that it took the carrier “nearly two months” to finally replace the damaged uniform. Alitalia’s desperate financial situation is apparent in a number of other ways as well. The flight attendant claimed that meals were missing in first class cabins and aircraft lavatories were defective on some planes.

The unnamed flight attendants recounted a series of other unpleasant situations aboard Alitalia planes, such as a lack of cutlery-which has meant that stewards would have to wash knives and forks-and on several occasions, missing meals in premium cabins caused embarrassment, requiring cabin crew to rely on their improvisatorial creativity.

The unnamed steward has spent the past three years writing blogs on the troubles that Alitala has faced. As further cutbacks appear inevitable and as the risk of insolvency looms large, the blogger worries that the number of disruptions and embarrassing situations will only increase. Not surprisingly, Alitalia is unimpressed by the anonymous flight attendant’s online activities and after allegations surfaced in newspapers about how cutbacks may be undermining passenger security, the airline fought back. Executives reminded passengers that Alitalia has one of the best track records in Europe when it comes to safety and noted that “perhaps Aviator AZ does not take into account the delicate situation in which we find ourselves.”

Thank you to Peter Popham of The Independent, for the initial report and direct quotes.

www.alitalia.com