Silent Protest Former Alitalia Flight Attendants By Stripped Off Their Uniforms

 

Dozens of former flight attendants from defunct Italian airline Alitalia stripped off their uniforms, wearing only undergarments in a silent, choreographed protest in central Rome.

The flight attendants stood in rows in a square atop Rome´s Capitoline Hill, lowered their company shoulder bags to the cobblestone pavement, then slowly and in synch, removed their overcoats, then uniform jackets, then skirts, then stepped out of their high-heeled shoes. 

They remained barefoot, wearing only a slip, in silence for a few minutes. Then they carefully gathered up their garments and shoes and together shouted: 'We are Alitalia!’. 

They were protesting job losses and the working conditions for the ex-Alitalia staff that were re-hired by ITA Airways, the new airline that bought the Alitalia brand.  ITA, or Italy Air Transport, is taking on fewer than 3,000 of Alitalia´s 10,000 employees. 

It launched with 2,800 employees - 70 per cent of which are from Alitalia - and says it expects to increase the size of its workforce to 5,750 by 2025.