Analysing the passenger experience of a start-up airline, particularly one launched as quickly as ITA Airways, the successor to Italian national carrier Alitalia, is always interesting.
The full cabin of the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats were introduced to the A350 in the middle of the last decade They are still a solid product on the airframe, but lacking some of the bells and whistles seen in other products.
Your author understands that this aircraft was one of the many widebodies that was supposed to go to one of the HNA Group airlines, and that ITA didn't have the chance to change anything beyond the lightest set of seat dressings.
The view is mostly grey and tan. The image is of John Walton.
The kind of product that will serve many airlines well is Super Diamond, a commoditised seat that can easily and effectively be swapped between carriers.
It is a stock implementation of Super Diamond. The image is of John Walton.
The ITA seat is similar to the British Airways A350 business product.
It has two side bins with power, an effective sliding tray, a decent sized inflight entertainment monitor, and deals with the head injury criterion of certification via an over- shoulder belt.
The bins are loud to open and close. The image is of JohnWalton.
It is also very, very greige in ITA's version. The primary view from the front of the cabin is beige seat leather and grey-tan fabric, while the rear view is off-white thermoplastics.
There is a lot of white stuff in this cabin. The image is of John Walton.
The table and side bins are off-white thermoplastic and can be seen when you sit.
Even the soft product was white-on-white, and with a very elderly sort of aesthetic that could almost come out the other side of cottagecore, if it weren't just...
The product is not black. The image is of John Walton.
There was nothing in the way of hard or soft products that had anything to do with the airlines brand.
It is an odd juxtaposition from the livery, the inspiration for which seems to be the Italian national team football shirt taken rather too literally, in that sort of way.
There are other ways in which the livery is odd. The Louis Vuitton handbag-esque symbols on the rear of the aircraft were inspired by Italian designers. The representative was unable to say what the symbols were.
There are two seats behind the doors, both of which are a decent product, but also very good in CMF terms.
There is a decent economy seat in the recaro. The image is of John Walton.
There was a positive note from the rearmost cabin, where the lighter greige seemed to like the blue and gold mood lighting, but the airline can't rely on this in branding terms.
The economy class looked more modern and elegant than the business class. The image is of John Walton.
The experience reinforced the idea that ITA doesn't know what it wants to be apart from Not Alitalia.
The airline's leadership briefed the media at the airshow on matters. There is a bidding war going on between competing parent groups. A new owner will hopefully be able to put more of a stamp on the passenger experience than has been done to date.
The designs on the tail are meaningless. The image is of John Walton.
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The picture was credited to John Walton.
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