lhrpete

Over the years I've seen far more criticism of Alitalia posted than positives.

I don't know how many of their staff read this board but no doubt some do.

I would just like to say thank you to anyone reading here because although I fly most of my miles on other routes being based in London, but when I fly to Rome and Milan, I've always chosen AZ even though I have status with BA. I travel AZ a couple of times a year. I've never had cause to complain over forty years and usually had the most warm, friendly and helpful service from those I've encountered and I will be a person who is sorry to see Alitalia go.

I will try ITA in due course and I hope I will recognise some friendly faces continuing to do what you do best but for now, grazie e arrivederci.

nldogbert

This is true, majority are criticism of the airline and staff, but truthfully from my various experience before and after it had the investment from Etihad, majority of airport (check-in , lounge) and onboard crew, I have had very pleasant exchanges with them.
Yes, it is not your SQ or QR level, but it was more than sufficient. And yes, they do disappear into the galleys most of the times after service, but every time using the call button or approaching them in the galley, they were happy to serve or fulfill the request with a smile.

Looking forward to indeed see how ITA will be.

Cheers!

TATLTAIL

I would add the same here - I've had many good flights with AZ over many years. There have been operational issues at times, but the cabin crew and gate agents have always been very good. (Baggage handling... let's not go there...). Mi mancherà Alitalia - grazie!

splflyer

In general also had mix of good and some completely uninterested staff on board. Product was fine . Happy to have them in Skyteam . Hope they will return/stay in Skyteam.
Feel sorry though for all these staff members, it reminds me a bit about the transformation of swiss in the days.
On a final note; i had yesterday contact with the facebook team and reply within 34 minutes , pleasantly surprised.
Grazie for all those working in az, i do hope to make 1 more trip with them october 4-8

goodandclassy

Great post - and same here! After a disaster of an early encounter over a delayed (pricey) item that was eventually processed as lost, I had written them off

Then I discovered Magnifica and the tables have turned to where AZ was among my favorite ways to cross the Atlantic! The crews, the lounge team (I will never forget the meet and greet at Linate - it was a 10 minute visit but the staff pulled all the stops), the ground team (Shoult-out for the LAX station manager and the JFK baggage service team) have been generally wonderful and easy to work with. Even phone agents, when you get lucky, have been above and beyond in some (much appreciated, even if infrequent) occasions

I hope to see many of these faces and the hospitality in ITA - and wish all the best in their future ventures whatever they might be

Thank you for starting the thread lhrpete !

bhomburg

I have had one extremely disturbing encounter with staff (described here - live animals are not your average bag!) but apart from that I`ll miss them. They are/were the European airline with the most relaxed pet travel rules and restrictions after airberlin's demise, and I really hope for ITA to continue that tradition.

HalconBCN

I can't say I ever had a memorable experience except in the negative sense. Even today, on my last flight with AZ, I was met by indifferent staff at every point of the journey. At the gate I asked the groundstaff in English to check my seat assignment and was told "no, that's not possible". The supervisor was listening nearby and sharply said to her colleague in Italian (which I could understand) "this gentleman is platinum - you should check it." So basically if I was not platinum nobody would have bothered.
On board, staff were indifferent, just going through the motions. And the laughable on-board goodbye: "Thank you for flying Alitalia, a Skyteam member. We hope to see you on another of our flights very soon".