ALEXANDER CAMPBELL / BASEL
Founder Maurice Suter and board resign under pressure from major shareholders at extraordinary general meeting
Crossair is about to start a series of meetings with potential alliance partners Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star which will dictate the future shape of the new Swiss flag carrier in the wake of the demise of its erstwhile parent Swissair.
In a separate development, an extraordinary general meeting in Basel on 6 December saw Crossair chairman and founder Moritz Suter and the entire board resign under pressure from major shareholders.
The Crossair chief executive, André Dosé, who was not on the main board and retained his position, confirmed suspicions that the regional carrier planned to re-emerge as a global airline and would seek to join one of the three major alliances.
Dosé highlighted the importance of joining one of the alliances following the collapse of parent Swissair and its Qualiflyer group, pointing out that although they have only 49% of worldwide traffic, the three alliances historically produce 65% of profits. The airline will soon meet with Oneworld member British Airways. Star Alliance's Lufthansa and SkyTeam member Air France also have appointments scheduled.
New Crossair chairman Pieter Bouw, the former KLM boss, confirmed that the search for partners was now under way, saying it was "not too early to consider alliances", as these were part of defining Crossair's business model.
The Basel meeting was warned that Crossair, the regional arm of Swissair before the group collapsed and the parent airline's operations were merged into it, would make significant losses next year of Sfr1.1 billion ($668 million) on sales of Sfr3 billion - and break even in 2003 on Sfr5 billion sales.
The meeting also marked the end of Suter's long career at Crossair - an airline he founded in 1975. It appears that the two banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, that control 70% of Crossair following Swissair's collapse felt he would make the amalgamation of Crossair with the Swiss flag carrier difficult.
That opinion was shared by the Swissair steering committee, set up by the Swiss government. Clearly upset at his removal, Suter did not conceal his suspicions, declaring "something is foul in this country... we have technocracy, nepotism and centralisation of power". Suter refused compromise offers of a post, but said he "would always be at the service of Crossair". Two Crossair directors, Claudio Generali and Michael Pieper, were re-elected and offered board positions.
Dosé told shareholders that Crossair planned to reduce its regional and long-haul fleet, cutting capacity by 20% and retiring 30% of its aircraft. Further cuts in operating costs would be made easier by the aftermath of 11 September, which has forced prices down across the industry.
Crossair still plans to replace its MD-11s, despite the collapse of a deal to sell them to Federal Express, but has not decided on a type. The replacements may well be Airbus A340-300s, says Dosé, although he ruled out the A340-600s Swissair previously had on order, which he said were "too expensive and a hundred seats too big" for long-haul routes it would fly. Routes such as Los Angeles and Tokyo are too distant for the A330s Crossair will take over from Swissair.
Source: Flight International
