ulxima

Let the same management (not the top one), who made all this possible, to run the company after you just poured the money in and the same disaster as before will happen sooner or later (it just depends on the amount of cash you inject).

U

NickB

Got it. Thanks. The relevant provision would be Art 15(2) of Directive 2008/48, then. Not entirely sure why they specifically refer to bankruptcy as I don't seem to find a specific reference to bankruptcy in the Directive but there is no reason why Art 15(2) should not apply to cases of bankruptcy too.
The Directive, however, specifies neither the remedy (eg: merely charge-back or complete substitution of the financial institution to the obligations of the merchant as in the UK) nor its extent or the conditions and circumstances in which the right to a remedy is exercisable, leaving that to national law so you really need to turn to national law to find out what the right consist of and its extent.

WorldLux

@:-) An European directive isn't law @:-)

Member states have to implement the rules of a directive by passing a law. You'll have to consult the applicable law to now how the directive was implemented into national law.

Ldnn1

Well.. you're half right. A directive does require implementation into national law, but the directive is still a law in itself and can have 'direct effect' (albeit not direct applicability).

But we need not dwell on that point.

Back on topic... anyone have any further insights as to what to do with a stash of Alitalia miles, if they're not already worthless?!

AlicorporateUK

You could get yourself a seat on the recently delivered 773's inaugural service to EZE on September 4th (or MXP-JFK on the 330, with the added bonus of the excellent Casa Alitalia lounge in Milan). Decent long-haul product (in fact, I still class it amongst the best in Europe, shame just for the poor network and a rather mediocre ground service) with quality food & wine together with a good lie-flat seat will almost certainly be a good deal for your miles

G

NickB

Indeed. The suggestion that a directive is not law would provoke a raised eyebrow in the average EU lawyer. A directive does not normally on its own create obligations private parties but it certainly constitute binding law for the Member States themselves.

AlicorporateUK

One of the recently appointed special commissioners (i.e. Gubitosi) who, incidentally, was the man chosen by banks (and all others forming the 51% investors' side) to replace the now former CEO Ball before the workers referendum, said that they are working on a new business plan (4-weeks' lead time for that one) and that they will also announce new routes for the winter schedule (he confirmed the launch of MLE but did not mention DEL, which was announced during the referendum). Possibly an over optimistic statement but I guess we shall wait and see what happens. In the meantime, the new addition to the fleet (B777-300, EI-WLA) has left FCO for some further/final maintenance before the official delivery (credit to the usual great source for anything civil aviation related i.e. the folks at aviazionecivile.it).

G

irishguy28

You almost gave me a seizure there! As I rapidly scanned your post, my brain came up with "confirmed the launch of MEL"

AlicorporateUK

(...as a result of increased demand between Europe -mostly Germany- & Asia Pacific [via FLR], we are pleased to announce...)



G

irishguy28

Speaking of which, the return leg of one of my FLR tickets was to have taken place this past weekend. KLM still retained all details about it; sent me emails to remind me to check in; I did, and got as far as the API screen before they decided that I really needed to use an airport kiosk or check-in desk to complete check-in.

I wonder how that conversation would have gone, had I happened to be in HKG to give it a lash....

MSPeconomist

I'd also worry that customer service could become horrible toward the end. Workers will know that they're about to lose jobs. I predict long lines, delays and cancellations, dirty aircraft, bad/rude on board service, etc.

irishguy28

Anna.aero has a typically irreverant look at the Alitalia situation - "Still launching routes - going bust Alitalia-style!"

You can read it here.

It's rather sobering to read that Alitalia's share of the domestic market has slipped to 40%; on international routes, it is a paltry 10%.

The slides therein:

AlicorporateUK

It could have definitely been fun and for all the wrong reasons!

G

MSPeconomist

This sounds like fun if the flight doesn't turn into a wake for AZ in mood rather than a celebration of the new route and great new aircraft.

Wouldn't it be safer to use AZ miles on flights operated by partners? In that case, when does AZ pay the partner and would partners, either in the EC or elsewhere, be obligated to honor those tickets? Of course, the mess/risk would be dealing with rebooking through AZ if schedule changes occur, so it might be wise to allow long connecting times and even try to pick flights that seem to be less likely to be cancelled or rescheduled.

BTW, there's a thread in the DL forum on this that discusses, among other issues, award availability for AZ operated flights to be purchased with DL miles.

irishguy28

No.

The flights would only be paid after the fact.

You pay AZ up-front; but you might change/cancel/alter your plans, so AZ won't pay the partner until after the flight actually gets flown.

If AZ disappears in the meantime, all outstanding ticket stock becomes worthless.