Whilst some enjoy life being “Swiss Made”, for Swiss International Air Lines, there is going to be major changes, with its fleet and staffing affected.
Swiss Airbus A340-300 departing Zurich- and possibly the fleet soon – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
For the airline, air transport activities remain very subdued. The airline has taken steps already (such as taking Geneva to bare-bones operations, reducing flights and so on).
It seems the airline will have to restructure.
Fleet
The airline currently operates 90 aircraft of its own, along with the aircraft Helvetic Airways operates on behalf of SWISS.
As such, the airline plans to reduce its A320 family fleet from 69 aircraft to 59 aircraft, along with the reduction of wet-lease operations. With the long-haul fleet, the airline plans to reduce it from 31 aircraft to 26 aircraft.
Expect some of the older SWISS A320s to leave the fleet – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
A quick look at the SWISS fleet indicates there are five Airbus A340-300 that are ripe for removal from the fleet – in line with the Lufthansa Groups plans to remove the A340 from its fleet.
A sight that could be come rarer – A SWISS Airbus A340-300 at Chicago O’Hare – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
Network
With reduced equipment as well as demand, frequencies are likely to be reduced from their 2019 levels on both short- and medium-haul and long-haul routes.
In addition, services may not yet be restored at all on a few direct intercontinental routes – something that will have to be considered when the network comes back in some strength.
Staffing
With the reduction of the fleet and network, comes the part no one likes – staff reductions.
By the end of 2021, the company will already have reduced this by over 1,000 full-time equivalents through a combination of voluntary personnel measures and natural staff turnover. It seems a further downsizing is now required with, up to 780 employees (650 Full-Time Equivalents) could be affected. This will be split by:
- 200 ground personnel
- 60 at SWISS Technics,
- 400 cabin personnel
- 120 cockpit personnel
The resulting overall elimination of some 1,700 FTEs would be a reduction of more than 20 per cent from the workforce’s 2019 level. As such, the consultation procedure has now started in connection with the envisaged restructuring, with it expected to be concluded by mid-June.
In Quotes
On the new plan SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx said
“It has grown increasingly clear that our market is undergoing structural change, and that despite the actions which we were swift to take in response, a restructuring of our company now sadly seems unavoidable,” says
With our new ‘reaCH’ strategic programme, we are aligning ourselves to the changed market situation,
“reaCH includes a corporate resizing and transformation that should achieve sustainable overall cost savings of some CHF 500 million. Our aim is to repay our bank loans as promptly as possible and to sustainably retain our competitive credentials and regain our ability to invest.”
On the staff reductions, he added
“I immensely regret that, after so many years of success with such a great team, we now have to consider such a painful step,”
“Unfortunately, the situation remains challenging in the extreme, and continues to demand rigorous cost discipline and efficiency. We are convinced, though, that with the restructuring we envisage, we would emerge from this crisis all the stronger and all the more able to return SWISS to sustainable success in the ‘New Normal’.”
A time to re-balance
SWISS is choosing to re-balance its fleet, crewing and operations at a time when there is still much uncertainty in the aviation space – and with different emphasis on travel at the moment.
The airline is aiming to come out a lot leaner than it went into the pandemic, as well as working closely with its owners – Lufthansa Group.
Whilst it aims to be a premium airline, it will have to seek out those premium passengers as the industry recovers.
That – could be the interesting part.
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