Press sceptical about airline alliance

The Swiss papers gave a cautious welcome to the news (swissinfo) swissinfo

Switzerland’s newspapers have reacted with scepticism to a decision by Switzerland’s national carrier, Swiss, to join the Oneworld airline alliance.

Swiss had ultimately been left with little choice, they wrote, and its severe financial woes were far from over.

The loss-making airline announced on Tuesday it would join British Airways’ nine-strong alliance, in preference to linking up with the German carrier, Lufthansa, which would have amounted to a takeover.

Membership is expected to bring benefits of around SFr100 million ($74 million) a year to the carrier.

The German-language “Tages-Anzeiger” believes teaming up with Lufthansa would have been far sounder financially, although it would have meant the airline relinquishing its autonomy. Choosing Oneworld left Swiss wide open to financial risks, the paper warned.

The “Tages-Anzeiger” said Swiss management, led by André Dosé, would have to steer the airline through fierce competition from other carriers, overcapacity and plummeting flight prices, and warned that the fiercest competition was likely to come from Lufthansa.

The French-language “Le Temps” said the move was driven by a need to escape a “negative spiral” and boost the carrier’s chances of survival.

The “Tribune de Genève” said the deal had in the short-term “saved Swiss’s skin” but that the airline still had to find ways of generating SFr500 million in cash to secure its balance sheet.

But the Geneva paper concluded that going with Oneworld had also allowed Swiss to “stay independent [without] being isolated [in the face of other airline alliances]”.

“Brave” decision

The mass-market tabloid, “Blick”, was more optimistic, saying the airline had made the “right decision… for the economy, for jobs and for passengers”. It applauded Dosé for bravely refusing to let Swiss vanish under the Lufthansa logo.

Similarly, the French-language “24 Heures” welcomed the fact that Switzerland would not be forced to part with its national carrier. Joining Oneworld, it said, also marked the airline’s “accession to a network of global importance”.

“Not much choice for Swiss” was the frontpage headline of the “BaslerZeitung”. The paper echoed the view that Swiss was not yet out of the woods. But it also pointed to the fact that passenger numbers would be boosted thanks to closer ties with other Oneworld airlines.

The “BaslerZeitung” also said the deal gave Zurich airport the chance of establishing itself as an important continental hub.

Good news for BA

The London-based “Financial Times” said Swiss’s decision to join the Oneworld global alliance was good news for BA’s chief executive, Rod Eddington.

With the skies and runways of Heathrow jammed full, Eddington desperately needed to find extra take-off and landing slots, the paper said. The Swiss tie-up gives BA another eight daily slot pairs, “though at about £30 million (SFr67 million), they haven’t come cheap”.

“BA nets wealthy flyers in Swiss tie-up” was the headline in the British broadsheet, “The Guardian”. Tuesday’s deal not only gave BA access to rich customers, but also meant Swiss had renewed hope of long term survival.

The tie-up with BA was among “the closest collaborations to date in Europe’s aviation industry”, the paper said, including joint flights, an exchange of airport slots and a single frequent flyer programme.

swissinfo, Vanessa Mock