Swiss confirmed that it is missing 50 to 60 Embraer and Avro's pilots from November to March after firing 526 of its regional fleet. Swiss wanted to get ride of them all as soon as october, postponed to november, but did not take into consideration a progressive lay-off until next spring. The company entered into an agreement for part-time employment, but it isn't enough to smothen the situation.
As a result, out of the remaining 460 pilots:
- 85 fly MD-80s,
- around 100 fly Saab 2000, while Swiss keeps only 6 A/C of this typ flying.
It means that there are only 275 pilots to fly the remaining 18 Bae-146 and 18 E-145. MD-80s and Saab pilots have now to be retrained to fly Bae-146 and E-145, a process that will last until March-April 04.
In the meantime, 50 to 60 pilots have to be recruited over a broker. Otherwise they would be submitted to seniority rules and other agreements between the union Swiss Pilots and the company. Would be even more messy than it already is.
In short, anyone willing to enjoy skiing holidays in Switzerland while keeping the Swiss regional fleet flying before the company gets bankrupt should apply.
But do not ask where to send your CVs: the current broker choosen by Swiss has currently no licence to hire anyone, not even the funds to garantee the contracts!
Sent your complaint for mismanagement directly to Swiss. They need more papers of this kind to keep warm in winter
