Alitalia Shows Off a Full-Fledged Redesign 

Today, Alitalia announced unveiled their rebranded business model. The new rebrand features a slightly-altered livery and cabin redesign. They will also update cabin crew uniforms and introduce up to seven new aircraft to the fleet. The rebrand will provide a fresh look for a design that has remained mostly unchanged since the 1970s.

The fuselage is mostly white with the Alitalia logo placed below the first set of windows. The tail features the red and green of the Alitalia “A”. The cabin design features a brown color palette in business class, similar to shareholder Etihad.  In economy, the design features a grey/red/orange palette.The cabin on long haul flights will have Wifi. The redesign also features new meals, inspired by classic Italian dishes, that will change each month and Salvatore Ferragamo Amenity kits in Business Class. The cabin crew uniform are now a distinctive Italian green and provides a smart look for a classic Italian carrier.

The redesign is the first major change in the airline since Etihad became a major shareholder in 2014. The change hopes to separate the new Alitalia from the troubles of its predecessor. The old Alitalia had both service and financial issues. The old Alitalia was always losing money and had only one year of profitability.

In June of 2014, Etihad Airways announced purchasing a 49% stake in Alitalia. The partnership gives Alitalia connections to the Middle East and allows Etihad access to the European market. After the sale to Etihad, Alitalia announced they would be winding down their partnership with the KLM-Air France group, ending it completely by 2017. They will remain part of Skyteam however.

The Italian carrier has had some financial issues recently. The current Alitalia was raised from the ashes of the bankrupt Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane and Air One. In 2008, a group named “Compagnia Aerea Italiana” aimed to buy the bankrupt airlines for 1 billion Euros. After the takeover, Alitalia was restarted on the 13^th of January 2009. Shortly after the takeover CAI sold a 25% share to KLM-Air France for 322 million euros. The new Alitalia did not take over the history of the old Alitalia and stress they are an entirely different company.