The board of Swiss International Air Lines on February 24 accepted management’s proposal to reduce its current fleet from 131 to 111 aircraft, furlough up to 700 employees and reduce routes. The airline grounded one Airbus A321, two MD-83s and 17 regional aircraft on March 30, which also marked the beginning of the summer timetable. The regional aircraft affected involve a mix of 50-seat Saab 2000s and 49-seat Embraer ERJ-145s, to be determined by cost of terminating leasing contracts. Swiss cites a slowing of traffic as the reason for the measure.
While the older MD-83s were scheduled to be phased out soon anyway, the mothballing of ERJ-145s comes as a surprise, as Swiss intended to maintain a strong regional network in keeping with the tradition of its predecessor, Crossair. The downturn in traffic will also affect the airline’s fleet-renewal program, although the replacement of 13 MD-11s by the same number of A340-300s during this year and next remains unchanged. On the other hand, delivery of 30 new 70-seat Embraer 170s and 30 Embraer 195s (108 seats)–scheduled to replace all of the company’s four Avro RJ85s, 15 RJ100s and 28 Saab 2000s between late this year and 2006–will be deferred. Swiss management is currently negotiating with Embraer to extend deliveries beyond 2006.
