Alitalia is holding firm on its target of hitting breakeven in 2017, although new CE Cramer Ball is hoping to go further and post a profit. The new Alitalia began operations Jan 1, 2015, following a E1.76b recapitalisation that saw its historic debt wiped out and Etihad Airways take a 49% stake. “Today stability is our objective, management stability, board stability and shareholder stability,” Alitalia’s chairman said. He added that the carrier is now halfway through its three-year transformation and is on track to meet its targets. Under its new ownership, Alitalia has revamped the cabins of 122 of its aircraft under a rebranding, upgraded its business lounges, improved onboard service, put more than 9,000 staff through retraining and opened a E5m training academy. <br/>
sky
Delta is getting ready for oil at US$70 a barrel. "We've got to make sure the business is positioned to perform with $70 oil," CFO Paul Jacobson said Tuesday. With prices "poised to touch $50 here pretty soon, the reality is we know oil prices are going to be higher," he said. It's not impossible to sustain high margins and high profits with higher oil prices, Jacobson said. After all, he said, "We were making record profits at $100 oil. As you can tell from our margin guide, we're optimistic." Monday, Delta raised its annual operating margin goal by 300 basis points to between 17% and 19% from between 14% and 16%. Additionally, Delta said Monday that it will cut second-half capacity growth by a percentage point, so that capacity will grow 2.5% rather than 3.5%. <br/>
Delta will not continue its sponsorship of Atlanta's Fox Theatre after a rival airline rented the facility for an event. Qatar Airways expects to start service in Atlanta June 1, and held a Tuesday event at the Fox to celebrate the launch of the new flights. Delta's chief legal officer Peter Carter said the Atlanta-based airline was "very surprised and disappointed" when executives learned the Fox would be hosting the Qatar event. Carter said "we won't be supporting the Fox going forward." The Fox said in a statement that it was disheartened to learn Delta chose to penalise the theatre for its decision. <br/>
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, has authorised 11 airlines to operate subsidised flights to Crimea, from June 1-Nov 30. The list includes Aeroflot, Alrosa Airline, Saratov Airlines, Ural Airlines, Ikar Airline, Red Wings, Nordavia Airline, Izhavia Airline, Aeroservice Airline, Yamal Airline and Sibir Airline, which operates under the S7 Airlines brand. The carriers, which must sign agreements with Rosaviatsia before May 29, have selected 40 routes connecting Russian regions with Simferopol out of 58 possible routes. The govt plans to spend US$9.4m on the Crimea subsidy program in 2016. It is estimated the airlines will be able to sell up to 187,000 tickets at the subsidised rates. The govt subsidises airline tickets for citizens under 23 years old and pensioners. <br/>