Bailout or bust? Ailing Alitalia divides Italians and paralyses Rome

Milan

ITALIANS are watching their flag carrier Alitalia go into yet another financial tailspin, and a growing number of them believe it would be better for the country if it crashed.

Outraged at repeated state bailouts that have cost taxpayers more than seven billion euros (S$10.6 billion) over a decade, many Italians are taking to social media to urge the government to resist the political temptation to rush to its rescue again.

"In electoral terms, Alitalia is worth nothing. It's a dead weight," Angelino Ghinelli tweeted into a social media storm that has not gone unnoticed in Rome, where mi…