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
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: SWISS cancels 1,400 summer flights due to pilot shortage
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is cancelling 1,400 flights this summer due to a shortage of pilots.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Swiss streicht 1400 Sommerflüge wegen Personalmangels im Cockpit
Original
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.
More
More
SWISS pilots approve new collective labour agreement
This content was published on
Pilots working for Swiss International Air Lines have agreed to a new collective labour accord finalised between their union and SWISS management.
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.
More
More
SWISS hiring more staff to counter flight delays
This content was published on
Swiss International Air Lines to hire 1,000 cabin crew and 70 new pilots this year as antidote to schedule disruption.
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey below to help us understand your needs.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
This content was published on
Geneva, which is facing several days of very hot weather, has raised its level of vigilance with regard to the risk of forest fires and is issuing an appeal for caution.
Zurich arbitration authority rules in favour of tenants of ‘Sugus Houses’
This content was published on
A conciliation authority says the terminations of 105 flat leases in the so-called "Sugus Houses" in the centre of Zurich were abusive. The tenants therefore do not have to move out - at least for the time being.
This content was published on
Visitors to Switzerland spent CHF19.6 billion ($23.9 billion) last year, a 2.2% rise compared to the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Monday.
This content was published on
Despite the current tense economic situation, Swiss consumer sentiment remains positive. The Swiss spent more money in May than the previous year, particularly on restaurant visits and leisure activities, as shown by the latest figures released by PostFinance.
This content was published on
A bear killed four sheep in the Lower Engadine region near Scuol, canton Graubünden, last week. This was the first bear attack on local livestock in four years.
This content was published on
Experts believe that economic development in Switzerland will be weaker in 2026 than the forecasts made three months ago. They have also lowered their predictions for the current year.
This content was published on
Fewer people in Switzerland have a religious affiliation and the proportion who practice their religion regularly is steadily declining, a survey finds.
Study: trees have major cooling effect even in extreme heat
This content was published on
Plane trees in cities have an important cooling effect even in extreme heat, according to a new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).
EPFL launches digitised version of Battle of Murten panorama
This content was published on
To mark the anniversary of the Battle of Murten on 22 June 1476, the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has launched a website that offers the public an immersive experience of the huge panorama painting of the historic battle.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.