Swiss want former KLM chief to head new Crossair

Crossair's new strongman, Pieter Bouw swissinfo.ch

The former boss of the Dutch national carrier KLM, Pieter Bouw, has been put forward as head of Crossair's new board of directors.

After consulting the major investors, the committee charged with launching a new Swiss airline announced they had selected 60-year-old Bouw to become president of the “New Crossair”.

The move leaves Crossair boss, Moritz Suter, out in the cold.

“Ideal Profile”

The committee found that Bouw had the “ideal profile” to direct the company which is being constructed on the ashes of the collapsed national airline, Swissair.

Bouw joined KLM in 1967 and was promoted to president and director-general in 1991.

The committee said that his long experience with directing a major hub, international freight and both short and long-haul flights, made him an ideal candidate to take on the responsibility of shaping a new airline.

Swiss businessman, André Kudelski, and the head of the federal financial administration, Peter Siegenthaler, were also asked to sit on the board of directors.

Jacques Aigrin, head of Swiss Re Financial Services, Philip Geier, former boss of Interpublic Group of Companies, Urs Rohner, director of ProSiebenSat 1 Media, and Claudio Generali were also on the list.

All those put forward have given their consent, the committee said. It added that discussions with other potential candidates were still underway.

Stake holders in Crossair are due to meet on December 6 to pass their judgement on the new board of directors.

Suter sidelined

The founder of Crossair and current president of its board of directors, Moritz Suter, does not figure on the new list. He received thanks from the committee and the Swiss government for “his active role in creating the new company”.

The director-general of Crossair, André Dosé, was also left off the list, a move correspondents said came as no surprise.

Crossair to take over collapsed Swissair

The state, public authorities and Swiss firms agreed on October 22 to a SFr4.3 billion ($2.64 billion) national airline salvage plan under which regional carrier Crossair will gradually take over some two-thirds of Swissair’s services.

As part of the deal, Swissair would continue flying to long-haul destinations until Crossair is ready to take over next April, with the government agreeing to pay SFr1 billion to enable Swissair to keep flying until then.

swissinfo with agencies