What a shame to travel in Business Class on an 11-hour flight on ITA Airways from LAX to FCO and not being able to recline the entire time.

I was told by the gate agent that my original seat was inoperative and did not recline and that I would be moved to another one that did work. However, the new seat was also broken, as was the one right behind me.

How can ITA operate long-distance routes in premium class on a fairly new aircraft yet have all these seats inoperative? And not even offer any kind of compensation?


Three non-working seats in a fairly new plane


And as if the seat situation wasn't bad enough, one of the two bathrooms in Business was also inoperative during the entire flight, so the wait was long every time to use the single one available for the entire business cabin. The cleanliness of the cabin also left much to be desired.

Alitalia used to be quite a disaster during its last few years of life and it looks like ITA picked up right were its predecessor left. They may have shed Alitalia's debts but not their substandard practices. A third-world airline experience through and through.