The power of a brand is difficult to quantify in any business, and every company deciding to undergo a rebranding exercise does it with a good dose of circumspection and fear. When the Italian flag carrier Alitalia decided to “retire” its brand in October 2021 as part of the salvage/takeover operation by Lufthansa there wasn’t much of a choice.

Operational discontinuity between the old and the new was a paramount need to get the approval from the EU so that Italy could provide enough funds to convince the German carrier to take over the troubled Italian airline. So the ITA Airways brand was created, and the Alitalia brand, valued at 90 million Euros ($100.5m) was maintained by the new property and kept on ice.