Silent Swiss

[middlepath]

Anything new?Its so silent, dusts settled down.

[Justforkix]

This in the Danish news today:

07.11.2002
Finansinvestorgruppen 3i har købt Swissair’s tekniske afdeling, SR Technics, der med 3.000 medarbejdere og en omsætning på 5,5 milliarder kroner om året er en af de førende inden for service og flyvedligehold.
(Børsen 07.11.2002)

Rough translation:
The Finansinvestergroup 3i has bought Swissair's technical department, SR Technichs, which has 3000 employes and a yearly turnover of 5,5 billion DKR (about 750 million Euro)
and is one of the leading companies in service and aeroplane maintanance.

[efcop]

it seems that we are in the eye of the storm. rumours indicate that management may announce a split of the company into a regional and a longhaul company this coming monday...

[BeerFly]

Company is not doing to bad. Seat load factors up and total pax also. Basel base having less traffic due to focus on Zurich.
Ex-Crossair might lose about 200 pilot positions next year.
Next year august the first of 60 new Emb-170/190 will arrive.
Still heavy negotiations between union(s) and management, court has to decide on seniority issue.

[middlepath]

will the estimated 200 redundant pilots receive reasonable compansetion or just 3 months notice? I hope everyone gets fair treatments from the company. By then there will be many openings elsewhere too. I suspect this new EU rulling from Brussels will have some impact on future of swiss. Major European airlines will be able to fly from any EU airports which makes competetion tougher for swiss.

[middlepath]

efcop,
If the company split into regional and long Haul, that is a real set back for the ex-crossair pilot(diminishing the dream of flying widebody-long haul).

what do we do next.

[efcop]

it was a chance of a lifetime which was passed over in favor of an endless legal fight. economically of course a split makes sense but that will make all the big swissair creditors come hunting for their lost investment as they will argue that mainline swiss is in fact a follow up company of swissair and thus to be held responsible for the accumulated debt. one court ruling in favour of the creditors would probably be enough to start an avalanche which would spell the end of swiss.

[Danou_71]

Well Middlepath, I don't think this really important here. I spoke with many of my colleagues and I wasn't surprised to discover that many of us are not interrested to fly long haul at all! We quite enjoy the fact to be home almost every night, having a social life with people outside of aviation and flying special operations at airport like Bern, Lugano, London City.
I even know many CRX pilots to be unhappy to fly "long flights" like BHX, GOT or EDI, which are between 1h30 and 2h30 flying time!

For me I'm absolutely happy to fly short haul and I guess would be bored after 5h00 seating in a cockpit doing nothing except some radio calls.

Of course I would love to fly a big bird like a 777 or 747 but on short route only :D , which doesn't make sense anyway...;)

The important issue is equal working condition within the european fleet.

It's a nonsense to say that an A-319 flying from GVA to ZRH(30') twice, is long haul and a MD-80 or BA-146 flying from GVA to GOT, OSL or EDI(around 2h30) to be short haul.

The only logical split in SWISS would be as follow:

Long haul: MD-11, A-330 and 340(when they come).
Medium and short haul: SB-20, EM-145,170,190, BA-146, A-319,320,321 and MD-80.

To all: I would like to know how it is splitted in your companies?

Danou_71

[flyblue]

In AF it is split this way:

Long Haul: Concorde, B747, B777, B767(the few remaining), A340, A330

Medium and Short Haul: B737, A319-320-321

When a big bird is flying a short route ex Ajaccio), the LH rules apply anyway because the personnel (Flight &Cabin crew) is on LH rules.

That's all folks!

[BeerFly]

yep and you put the saab's and embraers in a regional department and call it swiss regional. you pay them different saleries and keep the cost down.

And Danou, you are not speeking for the majority of the people i know about not wanting to fly long-haul.

[middlepath]

Donau-71

Well, everybody chooses diffrent life style and I have nothing against that. As a pilot the ultimate goal is to fly biger and long haul flight to exotic destinations and see the world during layovers. There is good and bad in both long and short haul, its upto individuals to make the choices. Long haul flight is like achieving final target for most pilots as one gets older. Long haul gives more free time since 3 flights in a month would be probably most one would expect. Short haul is good for young pilots who loves hand flying and many T/O and landings, flying almost five days a week and it becomes too routine and hectic.

Well, we all missed the life time chance of becoming airbus and Boeing pilot, whom to blame? may be to our own luck, because luck comes only once.

[berkut]

I guess Danou is more or less right.

Why should we split the company in Saabs, EMB and in the rest?
It makes no sense like this.

European fleet is everything below 180 seats incl the Airbuses 319/320/321.

We have allways accepted, that the MD11 and A330 in futur als well the A340 will be operated from a differend pilotkorps.
To say, that of course, FDR and salary for those guys will be different.

A lot of EX-LX guys just have seen after the grounding of SR, the BIG BIG money, and the BIG BIG jets.

Dream on !!!

I’m flying as well al “little” Saab, but I'm perfectly happy, I will just continue to fight for a fair and social Company, with two pilotskorps as mentioned above.

---------------------------------------------

Happy landings
;) ;)

[what_goes_up]

Hi Danou and Berkut
ALL (!) A320 F/O's are A330 qualified and most of them still flying mixed fleet. Only few CMD are not A330 qualified. It's a management decision to keep mixed fleet flying (MFF) A320/A330 AND A330/A340. Where would you put MFF-pilots?
In what I do agree is that benchmarket salary for MD80 and A320 is the same.

[berkut]

As far as I know, the company is starting to change that situation.
In futur, MFF will only be on A330 - A340.

So, if U face that, U see, that it make sense to create a european Fleet.

Enjoy flying

[what_goes_up]

So Berkut, then you know more than we all know. If the company is already starting to change that situation, how do you explain that there are conversion courses running for A320 pilots to A330? How comes that O (chief operations) stated that he feels it to be important to have MFF also for A320/330? Thats what we have black on white. All other things you've heard are rumours and maybe wishfull thinking. As long as it is a fact that we have this MFF, I would like to have solution how to split the fleet salary wise. Swiss still has a lot of advantages with this MFF, so why should they change it? There are some F/O's qualified for MFF flying only A320 at the moment. But that is not because they want to change the system, but because they fired to many F/O ex Swissair. Therefore these guys are working their butts of with 90+ (!) blockhours a month!

So please Berkut let us stick to the facts and do not push rumours to be facts. Although this is a rumour network, declare them to be rumours!!

[middlepath]

Let us not get buged down with our internal dispute regarding fleet type,pay and seniority. Most important of all should be what is our job security at present climate? How long will SWISS survive with present situation. Then only we can think about our internal disputes which should be solved omong pilot community.
I am sure there are lot more wiser will come up with briliant ideas.