SWISS cancels 1,400 summer flights due to pilot shortage

According to the Lufthansa subsidiary, the SWISS flight cancelations have been caused by a number of unexpected developments and overly optimistic deployment planning. Keystone-SDA

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is cancelling 1,400 flights this summer due to a shortage of pilots.

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According to the Lufthansa subsidiary, this has been caused by a number of unexpected developments and overly optimistic deployment planning.

The cancelations will affect long-haul flights – for example to Chicago, where services will be halved in September and October – and various short and medium-haul services.

A SWISS spokesperson confirmed the decision to the AWP news agency on Friday following an enquiry by the trade magazine Aerotelegraph.

The cancelled flights correspond to 1.5% of the total volume of SWISS flights between April and October.

According to the report, the shortages in cockpit personnel are due to an unusually high number of long-term absences, including pregnancies and accidents. The ongoing retraining of crews for the new Airbus A350 is also tying up capacity.

In addition, a new collective labour agreement with improved working time regulations has increased the need for staff by around 70 full-time positions.

There are additional challenges with the fleet, Oliver Buchhofer, chief operating officer, explained to Aerotelegraph. For example, A220 aircraft are lacking due to engine problems, while there are sufficient A320s but not enough crew. External help – for example via lease partners or support from Lufthansa – has already been exhausted.

To ease the situation in the short term, some older pilots are postponing their retirement and part-time staff are temporarily doing extra hours. In the long term, SWISS is planning to expand its cockpit training capacity and hire up to 110 new pilots a year.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

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