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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0028.PDF
in 1990. "We really succeeded in plugging a gap in the market," says Suter. Crossair is due to receive the first of 25 Saab 2000s on order in early 1993, and has 25 more on option. The 50-seat commuter, rolled out on 14 December, is essentially a high-speed, modernised version of the Saab 340 which has formed the backbone of Crossair since it began operations. It will be used on routes that fall between the capacity of the Saab 340 and BAe 146. The new aircraft will be equipped with leather seats, which have become a Crossair trademark. "We all love a bit of luxury," says Suter. In September, Crossair inaugurated a new flight- training and conference centre at Basel. Time on the new 340A/B full-flight simulator (FlightSafety- built with Hitachi visuals) is virtually booked out al ready. The centre — an other heavy investment — is expected to generate sub stantial revenue and should, says Suter, "...en able us to pay shareholders a dividend next year". The aim, says Paul Kurrus, Crossair's vice- president for training, is to sign up most of Europe's 15 Saab 340 operators by the end of 1991. Kurrus — Crossair's first flight opera tions manager and the only pilot when the airline oper ated just Fairchild Metros — says that the value of a full-flight simulator, even for a 40-seat aircraft, is undisputed. "In today's air traffic environment, with capacity stretched to the limit, it is almost impos sible to carry out semi- annuals and training in the real aircaft," he points out. It is also, he adds, environ mentally better and im proves the quality of training "...which is more cost effective because you hours a day if necessary". Crossair has been designated by Saab to carry out all training and maintenance on the Saab 2000 in Europe and the Middle East. Purchase of a Saab 2000 simulator will add to the centre's capacity and the likeli hood is that FlightSafety will be chosen again, for commonality reasons. Swissair's majority stake in Crossair has been beneficial, says Grotz. "The operations side, for example, runs more smoothly than ever because we can make use of their outstations instead of using outside contrac tors, which save money and makes us more efficient," he comments. An important debate now centres on whether Crossair will take over the opera tion of Swissair's Fokker 100s. Crossair's BAe 146s (which Suter nicknames "Jum- bolinos") are, says Suter, "very popular with Top: Crossair is a launch customer for the Saab 2000, but it operates Fokker 50s, meanwhile (middle). The Saab 340 (bottom) remains the workhorse can do it 24 our passengers". Also valued is the aircraft's ability to work from many of the mountain- ringed airports served by the airline. The aircraft is also crucial to operations at London City Airport, which is set to be come a major Crossair destination when services begin in the middle of 1992. The issue is sensitive and all Grotz will say is that Swissair and Crossair "...are looking into the possibility of which of us should operate the 100-seat market in the future". Suter, nevertheless, asserts that "...it doesn't make much sense to operate two small fleets of 100-seat aircraft." The impli cation is that one or the other will have to go, although "...for a while we will certainly have to operate both types". He insists that Crossair is "...completely free to make its own fleet decisions". Cost-cutting or not, Crossair will con tinue to clean and polish all of the aircraft in its fleet at least once every two months. "You can put one of our 1984 Saab 340s against a 1990 aircraft and not tell the difference," says Grotz. Besides helping to main tain the Crossair image of good service and cleanli ness, he says it actually puts 3-4kt (6-7km/h) on cruising speed, thereby saving fuel. After a ten-year break Crossair has re-started regular flights to Nuren- berg, Germany, its first destination when it began operations in July 1979. Its hopes of increasing its j Italian route structure re main thwarted, however, by bilateral difficulties be tween Italy and Switzer land. Even European Community (EC) nations have bilateral difficulties with Italy, but Switzer land does not have even the EC lever. Crossair is still limited to flying from Lugano to its three Italian destinations (Rome, Florence and Venice) with applications to fly to Bologna, Verona, and Trieste all being denied by the Italian authorities. Suter is clear about Crossair's survival in rough times, saying: "When I started this com pany, I always kept in mind the number of bankruptcies in other air lines. One of the main reasons was often their unsolid financial back ground. Our business is very cost-intensive and so I have a simple rule: I never spend a single penny more than I have in my pocket." Today, Crossair is worth more than SFr315 million ($226 million), says Suter. "That means we're not highly leveraged. The losses aren't nice, but we've achieved our spending plan and we're looking for ward to next year. If I'd been highly leveraged we'd probably be bankrupt by now," he asserts. fj 34 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 January, 1992
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