The fat lady is still singing: Alitalia's tragedy may yet have a happy ending

So often in tragic opera the heroine will manage incredibly to squeeze out one last aria after being stabbed in the heart. But neither Verdi nor Wagner would have dared stretch credibility to the limits of the tragi-comedy that is Alitalia. The (very) Italian flag carrier has seemingly been sucking in its last breath almost on a daily basis this month. Yet somehow she is still singing. More muted of voice but, incredibly, still breathing even while other, more sustainable models have exited stage left.