Information AboutSwissair |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SWISSAIR | |
| airlines established in 1931 | |
| defunct airlines of switzerland | |
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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 Geneva Cointrin International Airport and Zürich International Airport . 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 national Belgian airline and bought two minor French airlines, Air Liberté and AOM . The Hunter Strategy, however, proved too costly and, facing a Cashflow crisis, Swissair was Grounded ¹ on October 2 , 2001 . 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 a banner reading " Bin Ospel ". 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 Profit ability 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 Counsel ling 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. 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 OF ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS NOTES ¹ As a consequence " Grounded " entered the Swiss-German Lexicon , and the film Grounding was released in 2006. REFERENCES
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