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	'''Swissair''', short for "Swiss Air Transport Company Limited", was ]'s national ] for 71 years (]–]), established when the airlines ] and ] ("To the Stars") merged. For most of its lifetime, Swissair's financial stability made it renowned as a "flying bank" and it came to be regarded as a ]. It ended, however, in fiasco. About 30% of the Swissair shares belonged to the national government and at its demise, Swissair belonged to the holding company ], together with the regional airline ] and the charter company Balair. Its major ] were at ] and ] (until the early 1990's).		'''Swissair''', short for "Swiss Air Transport Company Limited," was ]'s national ] for 71 years (]–]), established when the airlines ] and ] ("To the Stars") merged. For most of its lifetime, Swissair's financial stability made it renowned as a "flying bank" and it came to be regarded as a ]. It ended, however, in fiasco. About 30% of the Swissair shares belonged to the national government and at its demise, Swissair belonged to the holding company ], together with the regional airline ] and the charter company Balair. Its major ] were at ] and ] (until the early 1990's).

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Revision as of 15:24, 3 July 2006

File:Swissair logo.gif

Swissair Logo

Swissair, short for "Swiss Air Transport Company Limited," was Switzerland's national airline for 71 years (1931–2002), established when the airlines Balair and Ad Astra Aero ("To the Stars") merged. For most of its lifetime, Swissair's financial stability made it renowned as a "flying bank" and it came to be regarded as a national symbol. It ended, however, in fiasco. About 30% of the Swissair shares belonged to the national government and at its demise, Swissair belonged to the holding company SAirGroup, together with the regional airline Crossair and the charter company Balair. Its major hubs were at Zürich International Airport and Geneva Cointrin International Airport (until the early 1990's).

Designator code

Swissair used the IATA designator code SR and the ICAO designator code SWR. Its successor Swiss International Air Lines is using the old Crossair sign LX and the ICAO code SWR.

History

The 1990s "Hunter Strategy" and Swissair's collapse

In the 1990s Swissair initiated a large expansion program known as the "Hunter Strategy" in which it aimed to grow by buying small airlines rather than forming alliances. It acquired 49½ % of Sabena, the Belgian national airline and bought important stakes in several minor airlines like Air Liberté, AOM, Air Littoral,Volare, LOT, Air Europe, TAP Portugal, Portugalia and German holiday carrier LTU.

The financing of the Hunter Strategy, however, proved too costly and coupled with increasing losses in their investments, Swissair parent SAirGroup faced a cashflow crisis due to the slump in demand following the terror attacks in the USA at 9/11. On October 2, 2001, Swissair's fleet was grounded. The largest bank in Switzerland, UBS AG, was blamed by many for refusing to extend Swissair's line of credit, and protestors who demonstrated the day after the grounding carried banners reading "Bin Ospel" or "UBS = United Bandits of Switzerland".

Two large bridge loans from the Swiss Federation were needed to finance the continuation of flight operations. When flights resumed, captains had to carry large sums of cash in order to provide collateral for fuel purchases at foreign airports. Finally, on March 31, 2002, Crossair took over most of Swissair's assets, Swissair passed out of existence and Crossair was renamed Swiss International Air Lines. It is now usually known simply as "Swiss".

Factors behind Swissair's collapse

Like other airlines, Swissair's operations and profitability were disrupted in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States. However, as Swissair's directors included many politicians, commentators have pointed to potential conflicts of interest as fundamental to Swissair's demise. The judiciary is continuing to examine why Swissair bought counselling that supported the Hunter Strategy and why Swissair continued to make certain payments despite nearing insolvency. Questions have also been raised about federal aid given to Swissair and the politicians involved.

History of accidents and incidents

June 19, 1954	A Convair CV-240 ditches due to fuel starvation in the English Channel, near Folkestone. All three crew members survive, but three of the five passengers die as they are unable to swim. Passenger aircraft at this time were not obliged to carry life-rafts or life-jackets, and this was one of the many incidents which inspired this obligation to be passed as law.
July 15, 1956	A Convair CV-440 crashes during a delivery flight from San Diego, California to Zürich via New York, Gander and Shannon. On approach to Shannon, the pilots execute an abnormally-steep turn, causing the aircraft to stall and drop to the ground. Four crew members die.
June 18, 1957	A Douglas DC-3 crashes during a flight exercise conducted under visual flight rules with nine people aboard. All die. The aim of the exercise was to practise flying with one engine switched off and propellers feathered.
September 4, 1963	Without authorisation, the pilot of a Swissair Sud Aviation Caravelle carrying seventy-four passengers and six crew taxis halfway along a runway at Zürich Airport in order to inspect and clear fog. He then returns to the start of the runway and takes-off. Ten minutes later the aircraft crashes, killing all on board. During its initial ascent, witness state they saw smoke issuing from one of its engines. Subsequent investigation establishes that braking during the pilot's unauthorised manoeveur overheated a tyre, causing it to burst, damage a fuel line and start the fire that ultimately led to loss of aircraft control.
February 10, 1967	A Convair CV-440 collides with a cloud-covered mountain; four crew members die.
February 21, 1970	A bomb on board a Convair CV-990 destroys the aircraft nine minutes after take-off from Zürich to Tel Aviv. Forty-seven die.
September 6, 1970	Three empty hijacked jet airliners, one belonging to Swissair, are blown up by terrorists at Dawson's Field, Zerqa, Jordan. See Dawson's Field hijackings.
October 8, 1979	A McDonnell Douglas DC-8 lands under "adverse conditions" at Athens International Airport, overshooting its runway and killing fourteen passengers. The plane touches down at too great a speed and too far along the runway for the pilots to use sufficient braking and reverse thrust.
September 2, 1998	A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 travelling from New York's JFK International Airport to Geneva crashes due to fire and subsequent instrument failure at night over the Atlantic Ocean, fifty miles southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia. All 215 passengers and 14 crew members die. See Swissair Flight 111.

Notes

As a consequence "grounded" entered the Swiss-German lexicon, and the film Grounding was released in 2006.

References

Aviation Safety Network
Nolmans, Erik (Nov. 14, 2005). "UBS Fastens its Seatbelts". FORTUNE, p. 20.

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