While there was hope and optimism (for some) that ITA Airways would be a revised and improved Alitalia, many more people had their doubts. With ITA posting a loss of €170 million ($192 million) since the start of its operations in October 2021, it appears that the company's leadership now wants to return to the branding of its predecessor and become Alitalia once again. Let's take a closer look at the situation and evaluate the merits of this move.

An Alitalia revival?

According to Aviation24.be, the president of the newco Alfredo Altavilla recently confirmed that ITA Airways has plans to revive the Alitalia brand. The news came during a hearing held by Italy's Transportation Commission and was first reported by Italian media outlet Corriere Della Sera and since reported further by additional international websites.

With ITA Airways having purchased the intellectual property and branding of Alitalia for €90 million ($101 million) in October, it now aims to put it to use- potentially as early as March 2022. Sources reported to the Italian newspaper that the use of the Alitalia name was being considered for intercontinental flights, or on national/European services. The decision will be made by the airline's board of directors on January 31st.

Why the Alitalia name was abandoned in the first place

The Alitalia name and branding weren't exactly abandoned by choice. Indeed, the airline known as Alitalia needed an injection of funds to stay afloat, and EU rules on state aid stipulated that there had to be sufficient "economic discontinuity" for the funding to be considered legal. In a sense, regulators were saying that for Alitalia to remain alive as an airline, it could no longer be Alitalia.

"EU State aid rules provide that a new company acquiring the assets of another company is not liable for past aid received by the seller, if the two companies are sufficiently different from one another," - European Commission (September 2021)

How the EU ensured ITA would become its own separate airline

The European Commission ruling on the Alitalia/ITA case stated that there is "economic discontinuity" between the two companies, which was assessed based on a number of criteria established by the Union Courts, such as the "scope of the assets transferred and the economic logic of the transaction."

Extremely summarized, the following is a list of seven points that the European Commission stated as proof for economic discontinuity between Alitalia and ITA Airways:

1. ITA's activities are reduced from Alitalia's, operating less than half of the fleet and a fraction of airport slots.
2. Limited parts of Alitalia's handling and maintenance businesses were carried over to ITA.
3. The Alitalia brand was sold off, with ITA being allowed to purchase it
4. Alitalia's loyalty program was sold off, with ITA barred from participating in the bidding process, and ITA was barred from accepting pre-paid tickets from Alitalia customers.
5. Fleet and labor contracts were renegotiated.
6. Alitalia's public service obligations (PSOs) were not transferred to ITA.
7. And ITA would pay a market price for the assets acquired from Alitalia (either directly or via tenders).

Point number three seemed to carry with it the presumption that the new airline would not use it. However, this was not exactly specified in the European Commission's statement on economic discontinuity.

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Will Alitalia branding help?

Airline president Altavilla asserts that traditional airlines have multiple brands within their portfolio. With this in mind, the use of the name Alitalia could be reintroduced as a division or subsidiary of the ITA Airways group.

“We have always intended to use the brand to integrate it into the commercial offer," -Alfredo Altavilla, President, ITA Airways via Aviation24.be

It's unclear whether this strategy will do anything to improve the airline's fortunes. The ongoing global health crisis would appear to be a much larger factor for ITA's lackluster performance rather than Alitalia-loyal customers put-off by the new airline.

However, from a pure SEO and unique-identity point of view, use of the Alitalia name could be helpful to ITA Airways. That's because the name ITA, when searched, has the possibility of disappearing into the noise and chaos of a dozen other entities.

Although the airline's website now appears to be at the top of search results, its name and letters still compete with other entities, including:

• A consulting firm known as ITA Group
• The Italian Trade Agency
• The International Testing Agency
• The International Trade Administration
• And even Brazilian airline ITA Transportes Aéreos (which is currently undergoing its own restructuring)

As it stands now, however, we have just over a week to wait before we get any news on if the Alitalia brand will be revived.

What do you think of this possibility? Let us know whether you are for or against it by leaving a comment.