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Airmail

7 Issu Oc e 20 tob 8 16 er S W IT ZERL

PEOPLE

The news journal for SWISS employees

Jan Trachsel, Inflight Culinary Development Intercontinental 8

The new Obstgartenstrasse

Better premises for less! INSIDE SWISS SLC 2016 gets the message across 3

INSIDE SWISS Captain Goliath makes his final flight 4

Quite a site. Roland Giger, our Head of Facility Management (left) and CFO Roland Busch check up on progress in the refurbishment of our Obstgartenstrasse building’s Bravo Wing. Photo: Reto Hoffmann

Scaffolding dismantled here and put up elsewhere, new security turnstiles to new office premises, and a route to the staff restaurant that changes every week: our Kloten Obstgartenstrasse building has been quite an experience these past few months. Many colleagues have moved into their new Alpha Wing offices since the be-

ginning of September, filling the new concept with business life. But how do things stand generally? What other innovations are planned? What about the OPC? Why is the new fourth floor of the refurbished Alpha Wing unlike any other? And how much has it all cost? We put these questions and more to our CFO Roland Busch. 2

INSIDE SWISS Fleet expansion at the SWISS Flying Club 6

Bombardier C Series and Boeing 777 fleet updates

Positive performances, delivery delays After some two months in service, our Bombardier CS100s are performing almost perfectly in their day-to-day flight operations. Both HB-JBA, which entered traffic on 15 July, and HB-JBB, which has been in line service since 18 August, have been posting dispatch reliabilities of 99%. Needless to say, more C Series deliveries are keenly awaited. And HB-JBC will be formally handed

over by Bombardier next week. But subsequent deliveries are being pushed back a little, owing to delays in the supply of their Pratt & Whitney engines. Our Boeing 777 programme, meanwhile, remains fully on track. Six of our new long-haul twinjets are already in service, and four more will follow between 2017 and 2018.  3&6

Snapshots Special rate at the 7132 Hotel in Vals

12

2  INSIDE SWISS  The new Obstgartenstrasse: better premises for less! (continued from Page 1) How’s the Obstgartenstrasse refurbishment going, Mr. Busch? We’re basically on track. The work on Alpha Wing and the middle section is essentially complete. The first fixed milestone in our ambitious timetable was moving into the new Alpha Wing this September. The second is to move into the new Bravo Wing from next March onwards. We do have a few afterpains to contend with, though. The people responsible for the façades went bust, and that’s put the owners (who are in charge of the overall project) about four to six weeks behind with this work: the windows, the façades, the blinds and so on. This also explains a lot of the noise that our people have had to put up with even after they’ve moved into their new offices. Needless to say, we’re trying to get as much of this work as possible done in the peripheral hours and at weekends. But that’s not always feasible, given the work sequences involved. And I would like to apologize here for the inconvenience. Having said that, it’s been amazing to see how the workers have managed to clear up all the chaos just in time for our people to move into their new offices on schedule, even if the new surroundings aren’t yet perfect in every respect. Why did we embark on this refurbishment in the first place? Our Obstgartenstrasse rental agreement was due to expire at the end of 2018. The building’s technology was no longer up to present-day standards, and some of its facilities had reached the end of their service lives. In energy terms, too, some of the building’s features – like its insulation – weren’t up to today’s expectations, and were also proving expensive in energy cost terms. So there was no way we were going to exercise our option of extending our rental for another five years with the building in that condition. Knowing all this, we started looking at our options back in 2011: in the rental world, the closer you get to a notice deadline, the more restricted your negotiating scope becomes. We worked and negotiated on six different scenarios here, including looking at land for a totally new building. And in 2014 we persuaded the owners of our Obstgartenstrasse building to conduct a pilot refurbishment of the ground floor of Al-

New surrounds: CFO Roland Busch conducted our interview in one of the break rooms of the refurbished Alpha Wing. Photos: Reto Hoffmann

pha Wing (where our HR is now) – working with us, and with no further obligation on our part. Our Product team were the first people to trial the new offices. They generally liked them (and we’ve been able to channel their input and reactions into the current broader project). After this, and following some very intensive negotiations, we were able to sign a new rental agreement with Obstgarten-strasse’s owners in May of last year. Why did we choose this option in the end? It was the best in financial terms. Not only were the alternatives a lot more expensive: with this option we get a totally-refurbished building whose rental costs, calculated on a comparable basis, will actually be lower than they’ve been over the last ten years. That’s quite a success for us: totally new premises, and for less! The other reason we opted for this solution was our experience with the Alpha Wing ground floor pilot project. And we’re also pleased, of course, that we can stay in Kloten, with its good accessibility.

Providing the kind of contemporary open-plan office interior we want means a one-off expense of around CHF 16.8 million. And as things currently look, we’ll actually come in under our budgeted projection. The new fourth floor of the Alpha Wing has fewer people working on it, along with an atrium and a Japanese garden. How come the other floors don’t have this kind of luxury? We had to add a further floor to accommodate our Technical Services colleagues who are currently in Kloten Unterdorf. Because the Obstgartenstrasse building is so close to Zurich Airport, though, the building regulations specified that some parts of this fourth floor had to have fairly low ceilings. In addition, for statics reasons, we are unable to provide the kind

of meeting facilities in the middle of this floor that we have on other floors. So this fourth floor does have some restrictions in usability terms. That’s why we decided to create these green inner areas. Having the fourth floor set back a little softens the façade, too, and makes the whole building front look less monolithic. As for the terraces, it was no major expense to use greenery instead of concrete tiles, and this also has a positive visual impact. We plan a similar upgrade to the third floor of Bravo Wing, by the way, with more greenery, seating facilities and covered and open meeting points. What’s the feedback been? I think this project has really upgraded our workplaces and our office facilities, and this is really appreciated by our em-

And what have we been doing – and what else do we have ahead – for the OPC? There are further plans here as well. We intend to create more crew briefing rooms from October onwards, and these should be finished in the style of the three that have already been refurbished by the end of December. We also just gave our cabin crew members a vote on the design of their new break room, which will also be available by the end of the year. On top of this, we’re tak­ ing a close look at the processes and workflows on the lower two floors of the OPC together with Flughafen Zürich, to see what improvements we can make there. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank-you to our Facility Management team for all their hard work. They do an amazing job! And I’d also like to thank the building’s owners, the archi­ tect and all the workers who have been involved – on SWISS’s and the owners’ side – for everything they’ve been putting into this major undertaking. Interview: Florian Flämig Impressum

How long will the new rental agreement run for? Until 2029. We also have two options to extend it, under the terms at the time, for another five years each, which gives us planning security all the way up to 2039. How much has the refurbishment cost us?

ployees: I’ve heard a lot of very positive feedback here. We now have spacious new rest areas, and in Bravo Wing we’ll have bigger lounge areas, too. We’ve substantially increased the number of meeting rooms, and we’ve brought a lot more professionalism to the equipment in our communications rooms. We’ll also be gradually adding a yoga room, a relaxation room and more wardrobe facilities over the winter months on the lower ground floor. Our security concept has been brought up to the latest standards, too; and once they’re finished, we’ll have greater building security with our new access controls. We’re still fine-tuning the airconditioning: it’s hard to do this during the handover phase. But all our access routes are clear, and they’re a lot more straightforward than they used to be.

All under control: our Facility Management team with René Kuhn (left), Evelyne Matthys and Lutz Kuhl.

Editorial team Dan Bärlocher (publisher), Florian Flämig and Reto Hoffmann (co-editors-in-chief and producers), Translators Paul Day and Jenny Rogers Layout and design Reto Hoffmann (Internal Communications), Urban ­Kronenberg (Futureworks) Copyright notice Some pictograms in this publication are part of the Entypo icon font, shared under a Creative Commons 3.0 licence Editorial team ­contact [email protected] Postal address Swiss Interna­tional Air Lines AG, Airmail, Postfach, CH8058 Zürich-Flughafen Printing SWS Medien AG Print, Sursee, Switzerland - This publication is print on natural-white 100 gsm Cyclus Offset paper manufactured from 100% uncoloured recycled pulp Circulation 2500; ­Airmail is ­published 10 times a year Deadline for input for the next issue 21 October 2016.

INSIDE SWISS 

3

2016 SWISS Leadership Conference

Management members get their messages accross Our 2016 SWISS Leadership Conference (SLC) was held on Tuesday 4 October. This year’s event, which went under the motto “We are SWISS@ LH Group”, brought over 300 of our management members from all over the world. — Florian Flämig The event was held at an excavator museum in Fisibach, north of Zurich Airport and close by the German border. The symbolism was appropriate: the Lufthansa Group is currently under some radical reconstruction itself! The Conference agenda included accounts from our Management Board members of their own experiences to date with the new group organization. The further attendees had ample time to talk, too, and the extensive Q&A session underlined the current uncertainties about the future of the SWISS brand within the Lufthansa Group and the likely ­success of our Geneva operations.

The attendees could also allay their concerns, though – for an afternoon, at least – in a light and playful manner. Working in groups, they were asked to address strategy, leadership or corporate culture issues and present them in a creative way: as a scene, a comic or a poem. It may have been a rigorous day, but our 2016 SWISS Leadership Conference certainly gave its participants some useful mental tools for the challenges ahead. The participants worked in small groups, trading their experiences of the new Lufthansa Group organization and discussing the challenges ahead. Photos: Fiorella Linder

Serious points, playful approach: attendees acted, drew, rapped and drummed out their “take” on the key issues of today.

Boeing 777 update

Popular performers and more It’s been over eight months now since our first Boeing 777-300ER, HB-JNA, touched down on Zurich’s Runway 16 on 29 January. Our ‘SWISS People’s Plane’ has gained five siblings since then. But the SWISS Triple Seven family is still far from complete: four more of the type will be joining us in the next two years! — Trisha Baumeler We won’t be getting any more Triple Sevens in 2016. But four more should join our fleet between 2017 and 2018. As they do, we’ll be able to serve more and more of our long-haul destinations with our new fleet flagship. The coming winter schedules will see Miami replace Montreal in our 777 network, with service four times a week.

We’ll still be seeing SWISS Boeing 777 landings and takeoffs in Europe for some time to come. Photo: Reto Hoffmann

And once our two 2017 deliveries are with us, we’ll be able to offer daily 777 service to the popular SWISS destinations of San Francisco and Singapore. In the meantime, Triple Seven fans travelling to Singapore or Montreal will have to hope they get lucky and catch one of the three weekly 777 flights. If you want to be sure of having the Triple Seven experience, though, fly to Bangkok, Hong

Kong or Los Angeles, for all of which we already operate daily 777 services. Connectivity a hit Our new SWISS Connect product that we offer on our 777s is also proving popular, with both the WLAN facility and the phone/data/SMS roaming in sizeable demand. Of the three data packages offered – 20, 50 or 120 MB – most guests are opting for

the happy medium. We’re also selling twice as many of these packages over the North Atlantic as on our Far East routes. There could be two reasons for this: our flights to North America are daytime flights, and the North American market is better acquainted with inflight connectivity. On the roaming front, customers seem to be using the service more for data and texting purposes than to make phone calls inflight. But those who do phone don’t seem to be unduly disturbing their fellow passengers. “We’re pleased to report that we’ve had zero noise complaints so far,” confirms Anna Rothholz of our Interior & Infotainment team. Still operating within Europe, too Some of our people may be wondering why we’re still flying our Triple Sevens on intraEuropean routes. “This is for pilot training reasons,” ex-

plains Ola Hansson, our Fleet Chief Boeing 777. “It’s the best way to cover the LIFUS phase – line flying under supervision. It gives the pilots who are newly qualified on the type more opportunities to fly their legs and consolidate their takeoffs and landings.” In some cases, too, their long-haul rotations would otherwise leave these aircraft unused on the ground in Zurich for longer periods. It makes far more sense to deploy them on European services during the times concerned. So we’ll still be seeing 777 takeoffs and landings in Europe for some time to come. And how is the new Triple Seven going down with our crews? “There’s a phenomenal team spirit,” Ola Hansson enthuses. “The FCMs are incredibly keen and committed. And the aircraft is already showing very high reliability levels. So we’re delighted that we now have even more Triple Sevens on the way!”

4  INSIDE SWISS Hans-Peter Reusser: a fitting farewell

Captain Goliath makes his final flight After 36 years of service with Swissair and SWISS and almost 20,000 flight hours on Douglas, Fokker and Airbus aircraft, former Swiss Air Force pilot Hans-Peter Reusser, better known as ‘Goliath’ is taking well-deser ved retirement. Here’s an account of his final SWISS rotation, to San Francisco. — Michael Raskovic It was on Tuesday 20 September that Hans-Peter Reusser made his way to Zurich Airport for his last SWISS rotation. It was to be a family affair: one of his first officers was his son Martin. The westbound Airbus A340 flight was smooth and uneventful. And after a short night’s sleep in SFO came the first of the surprises that Martin had arranged. First off, the group – HansPeter’s request crew and family – cycled through the city and over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. There they took to the water, with Captain Doug and his crew on the sailboat Bay Wolf – a wonderful way to experience the San Francisco skyline. And after a brief pit stop

at the hotel it was a half-hour bus ride to the Cliff House for dinner – just as a new film was being shot, starring Hugh Laurie of House fame. The last day of the rotation was ‘at leisure’. But most of the group accompanied HansPeter to the Twin Peaks before heading for the hotel for a further quick rest, and then to the airport for their eastbound return. Hans-Peter’s A340 was almost fully laden for his final flight of all. A storm front made for a few early bumps, but after that it was all calm and pleasant flying. When Martin told the passengers a little about ‘Captain Goliath’ and the special significance of their flight shortly before the landing in Zurich, there was warm and respectful applause; and after touchdown, everyone peered out of the windows to view the airport fire service’s water salute. And so Hans-Peter taxied his plane to Terminal E for the last time, before saying a personal farewell to each and every passenger. Goodbye, Captain Goliath. And all the very best to you throughout your retirement years!

📱

You can read the full story on our My SWISS platform.

After landing his final flight in Zurich, Hans-Peter Reusser received a respectful ‘water salute’ from the airport fire service. Photo: Reto Hoffmann

Hans-Peter ‘Goliath’ Reusser before leaving SFO. Photos: Michael Raskovic

Hans-Peter’s son Martin had arranged a surprise cycle tour.

Grounded CCM work assignment programme

“An enrichment for our team” Our cabin crew colleagues may, for a variety of reasons, find they’re unable to fly for a shorter or longer period. But we’re still pleased to make use of their talents in another capacity. And it’s our SWISS Health Case Management that finds these colleagues a new job on the ground until they can return to the air. — Anja Kugelstadt A programme of this kind calls for a lot of cooperation from the units on the ground who are willing to assimilate one of our cabin crew members (CCMs)

into their team for a limited period. Since these ground assignments tend to be of short duration, the individuals concerned will usually be given admin tasks that don’t take too long to master. Our Health Case Management organizes it all, and also tries to fit the right candidate to the right unit. It’s a programme in which both sides win – as is borne out by our five “mentors’ reports”. The first of these you can read below, the others you will find on My SWISS. Nicole Brunner, Technical Division We’re really happy with our CCMs. And I think the opportunity to reintegrate after an accident or personal issues, or the chance to continue working when expecting a child, is re-

ally appreciated by everyone involved. Most of the CCMs we’re assigned are upbeat and interested. And that’s an extra bonus for us: the technical side isn’t everybody’s “thing”. We’ve also seen friendships develop that simply wouldn’t have happened otherwise. The assimilation isn’t always plain sailing, but it always works in the end – not least because we have a lot of great people in Division T who are flexible, empathetic and open to something new.

📱 You’ll find more "mentor" reports on our My SWISS platform. Nicole Brunner, Assistant to the Chief Technical Officer (left), is delighted with the help she gets from cabin crew member Csilla Tankó.

INSIDE SWISS 

5

Crew resource management training

Tackling tasks as a team

How do you deal with risks? And how can you work as a team to identify a danger on board and make the appro­ priate response? These are the questions that are currently being addressed in a two-day course that will have been attended by every SWISS pilot by the end of 2017. — Reto Hoffmann The course, which is our latest Recurrent Modular Cockpit Crew Resource Management Seminar (or RMC CRM), is being held at the Lindenbaum Foundation in Pfäffikon (Canton Zurich). The course has been developed by our SWISS Human Factors units (OTH and OTA), and is conducted by pilots from our ranks. In addition to theory modules and discussion sessions, the two-day course includes two practical exercises, which are performed in the foundation’s ‘Thinkarium’ facility. Maintaining a conscious and active safety culture is vital in both the cockpit and the cabin. The collaboration and communications between the Commander and the First Officer and between the cockpit and

Among other things, the course looks at risk assessment and people’s willingness to take risks in unexpected situations. Human factors play a major role here. Photos: Dominic Brunner

the cabin are essential when it comes to eliminating errors and identifying any risks or dangers as promptly as possible. In view of this, our latest CRM course puts a particular focus on assessing and res-ponding to risks, especially in unusual or unexpected situations. Human factors play a major part here. “Our manuals and checklists can be a big help in assessing a situation or re-

gaining control of it,” explains one of the course leaders. “But we can’t train for every eventuality. In many tricky situations, it’s our experience or our sheer gut feeling that tells us what to do.” The course is designed to develop the abilities within the individual to respond to such situations in a targeted way. The course also puts a special emphasis on one phenomenon which is particularly topical

right now: the so-called ‘startle effect’ in the cockpit environment. It’s a human phenomenon that has become the subject of extensive discussion since the loss of Air France flight AF 447 over the South Atlantic in 2009 and similar accidents that year. The pilots of AF 447 were in the cruise when they were suddenly confronted with the disengagement of the autopilot and auto-thrust sys-

tems, caused partly by icing of the pitot tubes that measured the aircraft’s speed. This development severely affected the pilots’ ability to work together in a focused and effective way, because they were unable to immediately assess the situation caused by the autopilot’s disengagement. The surprise of these events put high emotional stress on both pilots and sent them into a kind of paralysis, known as ‘enhanced or fear-potentiated startle effect’. And the false conclusions they drew and the incorrect actions they took as a result ultimately caused the aircraft to crash. It was to reduce the risk of an enhanced or potentiated startle effect that EASA, the European aviation safety body, issued new regulations last year. These call for specific training in what is known as ‘resilience’: the ability to restore the cockpit to a normal and manageable state. Our current RMC CRM participants perform two exercises during their course to practise such responses. Neither exercise can be successfully completed unless they work as a team. Collaboration, communication, situational awareness, creative solutions and new approaches are all required – just as they are in the cockpit environment.

In addition to theory modules and discussion sessions, the two-day course includes two practical exercises, which are performed in the venue’s ‘Thinkarium’ facility.

6  INSIDE SWISS Fleet expansion at the SWISS Flying Club

The Cessna 177RG is here! Having announced its purchase this summer, the SWISS Flying Club has now taken delivery of its Cessna 177RG. The aircraft – HB-CDE – was welcomed to the club’s Hausen am Albis base at the beginning of September. — Pascal Ganz After receiving a complete avionics upgrade with the latest communication and traffic awareness systems and a full repaint into SWISS corporate colours, HB-CDE was ferried from St. Gallen Altenrhein to Birrfeld Aerodrome on 2 September for a series of introduction flights. The ferry flight was performed in formation, with the new Cessna accompanied by HB-SFX, the club’s Aquila A 210. And it included a stopover at Hausen am Albis, the club’s home base, where the new arrival was welcomed in a small ceremony by club members. The Cessna 177RG flies at some 143 KTAS, is IFR-certificated, features retractable landing gear and a variablepitch propeller, and will allow shortened trip flight times and advanced flight training. Prices on it start from CHF 297 an hour. The SWISS Flying Club, which is based in Hausen am Albis (LSZN), is the ideal opportunity to share our SWISS passion for flying. Its flight school operates with flight crew members from the whole SWISS fleet. And the club arranges various activities including fun fly-outs within Europe.

For its ferry flight from St. Gallen Altenrhein to Birrfeld, the new acquisition was accompanied by the Club’s Aquila A 210 HB-SFX. The pair are seen here in the Toggenburg region. Photos: Markus Guler

Well-arranged instruments and a smart red interior – two striking features of the Cessna 177RG’s cockpit.

HB-CDE made a stopover at the Club’s Hausen am Albis base to be formally welcomed to the fleet.

Bombardier C Series update

Excellent entry, but delays ahead Our flight operations with our new Bombardier CS100s have been proceeding smoothly since the first aircraft arrived and entered service in July. But the manufacturer has now informed us of delays to future deliveries. Some two months since it began regular flight operations, our new Bombardier C Series

aircraft continues to provide almost faultless service. Both HB-JBA, which entered traffic on 15 July, and HB-JBB, which has been in line service since 18 August, have been posting dispatch reliabilities of 99%. “This means that virtually every single scheduled departure has been technically problemfree and without substantial delay,” explains Sven Thaler, our Deputy Fleet Chief C Series. “We did have a few minor operational issues at the out-

set,” he continues. “But these were the kind of problems you get with any new aircraft.” An environmental first The new C Series is proving quite a star in sustainability terms, too. The CS100 recently became the first aircraft in the world to earn an Environmental Product Declaration from the Swedish-based Interna­ tional EPD® System. The declaration is based on the aircraft’s projected environmental im-

pact over its product life cycle. And the corresponding report established (among other things) that the CS100 will emit 120,000 tonnes less carbon dioxide than aircraft of com-parable size over its service life. Flexibility needed With all this good news on our new CS100s’ operation and environmental performance, we can’t wait for more to arrive. HB-JBC will be formally handed over by Bombardier next

week. But further deliveries are being pushed back a little, owing to delays in the supply of their Pratt & Whitney engines. This in turn means various changes to our pilot training and fleet equipment planning – changes that will demand a lot of flexibility from everyone involved. Despite these developments, though, we still expect to have all 30 of our C Series aircraft with us and in service by the end of 2018. Reto Deuber

PEOPLE 

7

F/A2 Lino Dürrenmatt assists Lesbos refugees

Helping the helpless: a first-hand account Cabin crew member Lino Dürrenmatt spent two weeks last March on the Greek island of Lesbos, offering initial help and assistance to arriving refugees. Here our 23-year-old CCM shares his experiences and impressions. It was a story on Swiss TV back in January that got the whole thing going. A short documentary about Michael Räber of Bern, who had left his work and his surroundings in Switzerland a few months before to travel to Lesbos and give help to people who were in such desperate need of it: the thousands of refugees arriving by boat in search of a brighter future. I had long been toying with the idea of doing something similar. But now I was certain. I wouldn’t spend my two weeks of vacation on the beach of some all-inclusive hotel: I’d spend it instead on the beach on Lesbos, where a humanitarian tragedy had been playing out for months. The admin was sorted out fairly quickly, and by 1 March I was sitting on a plane bound for Greece. Initially surreal What I found on arrival in Lesbos was actually a positive surprise. The whole thing seemed professionally organized and coordinated. I was assigned to the beach rescue shift on my very first night. The weather was good, with hardly any wind and a calm sea: ideal conditions, in other words, for dinghy crossings to be attempted. And it wasn’t long before we saw our first boat. It was just a faint blinking light way out to sea; but it was a clear sign of a

Every boat carried some 40 people – each with their own story of what had compelled them to make the perilous crossing. Photos: Lino Dürrenmatt

vessel for the trained eyes of those who had been here longer. Forty minutes later they were with us: some 50 people, over a third of them children. “Allahu Akbar,” we heard from the boat, over and over again. One young woman was unconscious, and was treated immediately by the Médecins Sans Frontières team on hand. The soaked and freezing refugees were given woollen blankets and bottles of water. I just stood there at first: the whole scene was so surreal. But we had four more boats that night. Each one of them got me more used to what was going on, and I was soon fully involved in providing the initial assistance. Emotions repressed That’s how things proceeded almost every night. My shift would stretch from midnight to noon. Sometimes we’d have five boats, sometimes ten, sometimes 15. Carrying around 40 people on average – each

Silent reminders: hundreds of lifejackets discarded on the beach.

with their own story, no doubt, of what had compelled them to make this truly perilous journey. Luckily I was soon able to somehow repress my emotions and concentrate on getting things done: helping children and women out of the boats, distributing blankets and water, changing wet socks and clothing. As harsh as it may sound, it all gradually becomes routine.

“As harsh as it may sound, it gradually becomes routine.” My worst experience was during a night of terrible weather, with a storm raging over the Aegean – lightning, thunder and lashing rain, along with powerful gusting winds. The waves were getting higher by the minute. No one, surely, could make a crossing in conditions like these: even the big-

Lino (bottom left) helped provide initial care for the youngsters, too.

ger ships were having problems out to sea, so a small light dinghy would have no chance. Yet we soon received word that boats had left the Turkish coast and were heading for Lesbos. Relief, then concern We were all phenomenally relieved when we finally saw two blinking lights. The two boats reached the safety of the shore within 20 minutes of each other. No families this time: only young men, almost all of them from Pakistan. That was typical, said the more experienced helpers. The crossing was cheaper in such conditions, they explained. So many Pakistanis, who tended to have less money than, for instance, the Syrians, took the opportunity to get a step closer to their European dream, despite the deadly risks. The people in the second boat told us there was a third boat, too. But this had had problems with its engine, and become stranded at sea. As I looked out at the stormy waters, a shiver went down my spine. We had no information, no sign of them, nothing: just a sense of indescribable helplessness. Our shift ended at 02:00. And as we drove back to our accommodation, nobody felt like talking. But then came the amazing news from our colleagues on the beach: a boat had just arrived, and its occupants were wet and extremely cold, but all OK. Miracles can happen! (Two days later, a boat full of refugees sank off the Turkish coast. Eighteen people were rescued by the coastguard, but at least 15 drowned. Good luck and

tragedy are constant compan­ ions here.) An enriching experience I saw and experienced so much in these two weeks – things that will stay with me for a very long time. Many sad things, but many wonderful things, too. My time on Lesbos was a hugely enriching experience. And it would do a lot of people on this Earth a lot of good to see and feel the same. It certainly makes you appreciate your own life and surroundings; and it made me realize once again what a privilege it is to have been born in Switzerland.”

Lino in brief

Lino Dürrenmatt is 23 years old, and has been working with us as a cabin crew member since January 2015. His mother taught him at an early age that respect for others was one of the most important things in life, and that he was extremely lucky to have been born in Switzerland.

8  PEOPLE G High Five

🌎 Celebrations

“Vegetarians have become more demanding”

Births

We talk to Jan Trachsel, Inflight Culinary Development Intercontinental — Trisha Baumeler What's your role at SWISS? I'm responsible for inflight food and beverages. Until now, it was mainly for our long-haul flights, including the SWISS Taste of Switzerland programme, where we work with guest chefs who create special menus for our First and Business classes. Once a year we have a big meeting to plan every item to be served on board - the breakfast menu in each class, for example. Things have changed somewhat since the reorganization. With the focus now on our ZRH/GVA hub - on flights departing from Switzerland - my portfolio now includes short-haul routes, too. Besides the food, I also get to choose the wine! On our longhaul flights we go for wine from the same cantons as those in our SWISS Taste of Switzerland programme (St. Gallen at the moment, to be followed by Grisons this winter) combined with wine from outside Switzerland (Portugal right now, and Australia/New Zealand this winter). What do you enjoy most? The variety. Which is something I was specifically looking for given that I'd decided to go for, a job which wouldn't involve quite such relentless travel. I'd say that the most rewarding aspect is seeing our plans on paper become a reality. It's a great feeling when the dishes we serve in the air actually work out as we'd imagined, and when we get good customer feedback! I love the wine tasting sessions, too: we taste the wine as a panel, and it's a fascinating experience every time. It's such a Jan in brief

Jan trained as a chef before attending the school of hotel management in Thun. His work experience includes stints at the Four Seasons in England, in Swiss Gault-Millau restaurants and at the World Exhibition in Shanghai and South Korea. He traded his chef's hat for pen and paper 3½ years ago, when he joined SWISS to help us think about all things culinary in the air.

Jan Trachsel: “The most rewarding aspect of my job is seeing our plans on paper become a reality”. Photo: Jen Ries

privilege to discover a new region and get to know its different facets from a culinary point of view. I also enjoy the opportunity to try out new ideas such as the First Class Connoisseur concept, for example. What are the biggest challenges in your job? The negative image associated with airline food is the most difficult to shake off, particularly in Economy. We have limited scope, and have to give very careful thought to how we can deliver something that will work for everyone whilst satisfying our increasingly sophisticated customers and also remaining on budget. What would you like to serve on board if there were no restrictions? A simple, but really good, hamburger with really good potato chips - that would definitely be popular! But anything fried is difficult, because of the structure. Soggy fries just won't do! We did it once with fries in First Class - but only eight guests get the enjoyment. It'd be great if we could serve a menu like that in Economy – but it's impossible without compromising.

Food trends, allergies, diets – are these an issue on board, too? For sure! ECARF (European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation) named us the world's first 'allergy-friendly' airline last year. I was entrusted with this project. But I have to admit there's a lot of hype, and we can't really ask passengers if they do actually have an intolerance. That takes us on to another problem: vegetarians used to be happy simply to find a veggie option at all! Now we're told it's 'always the same thing'. So we had another meeting with Hiltl Restaurant to come up with some fresh ideas for new vegetarian dishes this year.

📱 Read the full interview with Jan on our My SWISS platform.

Next up Jan would like to see a brief interview with someone from Inflight entertainment or SWISS Magazine.

Maître de Cabine Frank D’Silva and his wife FCG Daria D’Silva became the proud parents of Gianluca on 6 September. He weighed in at 3,285 grams at birth and measured 50 centimetres. Congratulations to you both!

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Favorite autumn activity What are you looking forward to most in autumn? 36.4% Long walks in the forests

3.6 % Buying a fashionable winter coat

16.4 % Going on holidays in the warm south

Favorite autumn activity

20.6 % Cozy evenings at home by the fireside

23 % Delicious game, mushrooms & chestnuts

Next question: How do you deal with the coming winter cold? You can give us your answer via My SWISS or the app or by using the QR code on the right.

PEOPLE 

9

SWISS staff help spread sexual tolerance

Face to face with a classroom taboo Three of our SWISS colleagues are giving their free time to help explain homosexuality to school students. They feel that our company’s commitment to diversity helps them stand by their sexuality at the workplace, too. — Monica Danuser “Do you hold hands in public?” “Don’t you want to have kids?” “When you came out, how did your family and friends take it?” “Do you ever regret being gay?” These are the kind of questions that teenagers tend to ask when they’re given the opportunity to quiz a homosexual person about their sexual orientation. “Or it’s a question about your love life!” says Alois Carnier with a smile. Fiftyyear-old Alois is a member of our IT unit. But in his spare time he goes to schools and talks to the classes about homosexuality as openly as he can. Attentive listeners Alois, together with our mâitre de cabine Europe Stefano Carlucci (27) and our freelance cabin crew member Pascal Rotach (29), is a member of ‘Gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe leben’ (‘Living Same-Sex

and girls, and each group is invited to ask any questions they wish – with the teacher absent, too.

M/C Stefano Carlucci, F/A Pascal Rotach and IT Specialist Alois Carnier (from left) are devoting their free time to a bold and valuable project. Photo: Monica Danuser

Love’), or GLL for short. The project is intended to inform school students about homosexuality and address their questions and any preconceptions. “Most teenagers only know gay people – men or women – from TV or from hearsay, and can develop these real clichés,” Pascal explains. “Our school visits show them that homosexual people are totally normal. I wish I’d had lessons like this when I was at school,”

he adds. “It would have made my coming out a whole lot easier!” “What makes you different from your classmates?” It’s with simple questions like this that the GLL team try to break the ice when they come into a classroom. The visits always follow the same format: a lesbian, a gay man and a parent of a homosexual child attend the class for two or three lessons. First there’s a brief introduc-

The SWISS Sailing Team

Help wanted The GLL project is always looking for new motivated people to help spread its message. If you’re interested, you can find out more at www.gll.ch.

SWISS Running Team

A crew well on course This year’s World Airline Sailing Championships were held in Gmunden, Austria in midSeptember. Our company has been competing in these for three years now with a feisty little team that’s been striving to take on the more established participants. Alongside SWISS, this year’s event was also attended by Air Canada, Austrian Airlines, Emirates, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Saudia and United Airlines. So how did we fare, we asked team captain Judith Niedmers. And how has she experienced the rapid development of her sevenstrong team from newcomers to serious contenders? "With sailing, they say, the one who wins is the one who makes the fewest mistakes. They also say that every minute you spend on the water counts. Our SWISS Sailing

tion to the whole issue of homosexuality. And this is followed by roleplays, in which the students can experience what it’s like to come out, or to be discriminated against for one’s sexuality. Later on, the GLL members tell their own stories. “That’s when you can hear a pin drop,” says Stefano. “Even the students who’ve only been half-listening tend to pay attention then.” At the end the class is separated into boys

Good experiences at work So how can our colleagues combine these time-taking school visits with their work at SWISS? While Stefano, as a maître de cabine, can schedule them on his free days, Alois works 80% and uses his weekly day off for his GLL work. Pascal, whose main job is teaching and who flies with us as a freelance cabin crew member, also makes his GLL school visits in his spare time. “The irregular working hours are perfect for the project,” Stefano explains. “And SWISS being such a tolerant employer makes it all easier for us, too.” When he was training in the hospitality sector, people made fun of Stefano for his sexuality. At SWISS, though, he’s had only positive experiences. And these are what he wants to pass on to the classes he visits, together with Alois and Pascal.

Two wins for our runners Our SWISS Running Team had no fewer than 14 competitors at the start for this year’s World Airline Road Race in Chicago. The field extended to over 1,000 airline folk from all over the world. There was only one winner, though: SWISS! Lukas Züllig took the individual honours in the men’s 5 km race, and our men’s team was placed second here, too, thanks to excellent further per-

formances by Marco Wiesner and Peter Krieger. We did even better in the men’s 10 km race, coming first. For the full results visit http://worldairlineroadrace.org/ Like to take part in one of the SWISS Running Team’s upcoming events, or join in the Lunch Run? Then just send an email to Lukas Züllig at zuel@ swiss.com.

One crew: our SWISS Sailing Team have really bonded this year.

Team first took part in the World Airline Sailing Championships (WASC) in Sydney in October 2014. This year, following extensive training on Lake Thun and with the generous support of Simon Brügger, the founder of Sailbox, we felt well prepared for the latest WASC, which was to be held on the Traunsee in Gmunden in Austria. We took a

bigger delegation, and sailed the SB20, a three-crew boat with a gennaker. And we enjoyed a wonderfully-organized event with only gentle winds but truly spectacular surrounds."

📱 Read the full story about our SWISS Sailing Team on our My SWISS platform.

Their kind of town: our SWISS Running Team celebrate their Chicago triumph.

10  LUFTHANSA GROUP Lufthansa Group and Air China tighten knots

Commercial joint venture The Lufthansa Group and Air China signed a wide-reaching partnership agreement in Beijing which will enable the two aviation groups to jointly operate all connections between Europe and China as part of a commercial joint venture. The joint venture aims to significantly expand their mutual code-sharing connections and enhance their commercial partnership. This will allow the Lufthansa Group to continue pursuing its partnership-driven Asia strategy. Following a joint venture with the Japanese airline All Nippon Airlines (ANA) and a joint venture with Singapore Airlines, which was signed in November 2015, this is now the Lufthansa Group’s third enhanced partnership in Asia. “As the flag carrier, Air China is the ideal partner for the Lufthansa Group in the People’s Republic of China. This groundbreaking joint venture will fundamentally strengthen our competitive position on routes

Carsten Spohr: “This ground-breaking joint venture will fundamentally strengthen our competitive position on routes between Europe and China.” Photo: Lufthansa

between Europe and China. The significantly enhanced partnership will enable us to create additional benefits for customers,” said Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, at the signing of the agreement in Beijing. “The Chinese aviation market is one of the most important growth markets worldwide. We want to profit from this growth together with our Star Alliance partner Air China,” added Spohr. The joint venture with Lufthansa and the Lufthansa subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines is

another major step in Air China’s globalization strategy following Air China’s accession into Star Alliance in December 2007. The Lufthansa Group’s joint venture with the flag carrier of the People’s Republic of China is particularly significant as it clearly strengthens the presence of Lufthansa Group airlines in the second-most important aviation market in the world.

Brussels Airlines will soon be a full Lufthansa subsidiary. Photo: Web

Brussels Airlines

Full acquisition approved The Lufthansa Supervisory Board has approved full acquisition of Brussels Airlines. The remaining 55 per cent of SN Airholding will be acquired through the exercise of a call option.

The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has approved the exercising of a call option to acquire the remaining 55 per cent of shares in SN Airholding, the parent company of Brussels Airlines, at its re-

cent meeting. The approval paves the way for Lufthansa’s full acquisition of Brussels Airlines. It remains the common objective of Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines to conduct the full acquisition of SN Airholding by Deutsche Lufthansa AG after the final agreement on the modalities of the exercise of the call option with the SN Airholding shareholders by the end of this year, and to conclude the transaction at the beginning of 2017.

First Lufthansa cabin crew casting in Munich

Trent XWB engine loading trialled

The Lufthansa Group will be recruiting 2,800 new cabin crew members this year, 600 of them for Lufthansa at its Munich base. In addition to the conventional application procedure via its online career portal, Lufthansa is also conducting its first-ever “cabin crew casting” recruitment events here in various German cities. The castings are aimed at both those who have long been considering a flight attendant career and the more spontaneously-minded. Castings have already been held in Heidelberg, Mainz, Augsburg and Regensburg; and they’ll be coming to Munich on 14 and 15 October.

Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo have marked a further milestone in the preparations for the entry into Lufthansa service of the Airbus A350-900. This involved loading a Trent XWB powerplant provided by Rolls-Royce into a Boeing 777 freighter under real conditions. The loading’s success ensures that a replacement A350 engine can be smoothly shipped out if necessary to wherever it is needed. Which is good to know: the XWB weighs seven tonnes, is five metres long and has a fan diameter of three metres, and so far has only been transported by an Antonov An-124, an Airbus Beluga or a Boeing C-17.

Lufthansa signs letter of intent

Eurowings and Air Berlin wet-lease collaboration Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air Berlin PLC have signed a letter of intent on the wet lease of up to 40 aircraft which will be operated by the Air Berlin Group for the Lufthansa Group companies Eurowings and Austrian Airlines.

The six-year agreement is to start with the beginning of the 2017 summer schedules on 26 March. It will enable Eurowings to significantly expand its capacities and strengthen its position in the European pointto-point air transport market. Eurowings currently operates a total fleet of 90 aircraft. Under the new agreement, Eurowings is to lease in 35 further aircraft from Air Berlin which will fly in Eurowings livery. Another five Air Berlin aircraft will be leased by Austrian Airlines. As both parties are aiming for a wet-lease collaboration all 40 aircraft concerned will not only be provided by Air

As both parties are aiming for a wet-lease collaboration, Air Berlin would also remain responsible for their operations . Photo: Web

Berlin but the Airline will also remain responsible for their operations, i.e. Air Berlin will continue to provide their cockpit and cabin crews and maintenance. The leased fleet of up to Airbus A320s and A319s will fit well into the existing Eurowings fleet, which consists entirely of Airbus aircraft.

The new aircraft will be based at seven airports in Germany, in Vienna and in Palma de Mallorca. The five aircraft destined for Austrian Airlines are to further strengthen the carrier’s leading position at its home Vienna hub. The phase-in and deployment on new services will be staggered.

INDUSTRY & POLITICS 

11

SIL air transport infrastructure plan

Consultation phase started The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) put its draft revised object sheet for Zurich Airport’s “SIL” air transport infrastructure plan into the consultation phase on 27 September). SWISS welcomes the publication of “SIL ZRH 2”.

The “SIL” air transport infrastructure plan is the Swiss Confederation’s planning and coordination tool for Switzerland’s civil aviation. Under Zurich Airport’s 50year operating licence of 2001, the volumes and handling of the air traffic permitted at the airport are stipulated in the SIL. So the latest object sheet here sets out the parameters for the airport’s infrastructure and operation. The latest SIL object sheet lays the spatial planning foundations for implementing various additional measures that have been derived from a reappraisal of the airport’s safety and security provisions. These include the modification of the “Bise Concept” with departures to the south specified in the 2012 Safety Reassessment Re-

At first glance, SIL ZRH 2 seems to contain a number of key measures to address today’s punctuality problems. Photo: Zurich Airport

port, which is a key action to further enhance operational safety. The present Bise Concept is extremely complex, because the departure routes of aircraft taking off towards Kloten intersect multiple times with the routes of any arriving flights which need to perform a go-around. The latest SIL object sheet also envisages an optimization of the “North Concept”. The diversification of Runway 28 takeoffs to the west permits shorter intervals between departures, and this in turn will improve peak-time punctuality and reduce evening delays. The expanded left-hand turn after Runway 16 departures which the SIL object sheet also envisages will eliminate further inter-

sections, and should also help reduce complexity overall. SWISS will now study “SIL ZRH 2” in detail and communicate its views thereon at length as part of the FOCA’s consultation process. At first glance, though, SIL ZRH 2 seems to contain a number of important actions that can help tackle the present punctuality problems. This is basically a positive development, though the actions envisaged may still take some time to adopt. At the same time, SWISS regrets that, despite its claimed 20-to-30-year perspective, SIL ZRH 2 only offers solutions to the current problems, and presents hardly any broader spatial planning prospects for future generations.

Wideroe looking at C Series to take on SAS

New German airline to take off in spring

Norwegian regional carrier Wideroe is considering acquiring ten Bombardier CS100s. The airline would operate the economical twinjet on new routes between Oslo and smaller destinations such as Haugesund, Molde and Kristiansund, taking on rivals Norwegian and SAS. Wideroe was majority SAS-owned until 2013, when it was sold to Norwegian investors. A CS100 deal here would mark a major success for Bombardier. After Delta Air Lines, the Canadian manufacturer was expecting another sizeable C Series order from a European carrier this summer. But the deal was thwarted – or at least indefinitely postponed – by the UK’s Brexit vote.

New German-based carrier Sundair intends to start services to classic vacation destinations such as Egypt, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Turkey as early as next spring. The new airline will operate from various German airports including Frankfurt, Berlin (Tegel) and Dresden, according to the Airliners portal. The company is based in Stralsund, where it aims to have up to 130 personnel in its accounting, controlling and marketing departments. The Baltic city has also given the carrier its name. In addition to classic vacation travel, Sundair aims to be active in the ethnic traffic, special charter and wetlease segments.

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12  SNAPSHOTS

🏆 Special conditions for SWISS staff

📷 SWISS Pixels

Stay in the 7132 Hotel, Vals The 7132 Hotel in Vals, our latest “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” partner hotel, is a byword for a sensual vacation experience. And SWISS employees will enjoy exclusive preferential rates for a stay in its unique “House of Architects”. The LX@7132 Package, which is being offered by the 7132 Hotel exclusively to SWISS employees, consists of single- or double-room accommodation in the House of Architects plus breakfast in the 7132 Red Restaurant at the following great rates: Single room: CHF 200 per night (instead of CHF 325) Double room: CHF 300 per night (instead of CHF 460) The LX@7132 Package can be booked on the hotel website. When making your booking, please open the Optional Codes section and enter “LX7132” in the Corporate/Promotion Code box. You will also need to present your SWISS ID badge when checking in to the hotel. The Gourmet Package The Gourmet Package, which is also available exclusively to

How about a pampering weekend in Vals and its mountain surroundings? Photo: Hotel 7132

SWISS employees, offers a nine-course meal including a welcome glass of champagne at the 7132 Silver Restaurant and a night’s double-room accommodation in the House of Architects for two persons for CHF 700 instead of CHF 960. The Gourmet Package can be booked by telephone only: +41 58 7132 000. Please state that you are referring to the SWISS employee special when booking the package.

Terms and conditions: This offer is not available Saturdays and can be booked for a maximum of two nights. The offer is valid until 23 December 2016 (i.e. last possible overnight stay on 23 to 24 December ).

Shadows and reflections. Maître de Cabine Julia R. Hauenstein sent us this fine black-and-white picture, which she took at Zurich Airport. Do you have a great picture you’ve taken? Send it to [email protected]!

📱 You’ll find more SWISS Pixels on My SWISS.

Lunch Lottery

SWISS innovations gain group appeal

📱 App

📱 App

DrinkAdvisor

Runtastic

DrinkAdvisor is an app guide to the best nightlife, bars, clubs and drinks, with all the latest info from specialists in the field. Put this on your phone and you’ll always find the hottest local nightspots. The app also boasts a handy catalogue of well-known drinks, famous cocktails and fashionable brands.

Here’s the ideal app partner for your fitness and health! Whatever your preferred form of exercise may be, Runtastic will help you do it, recording your activities, tracking your progress and guiding you to your fitness goals.

After “Mix & Mingle”, another of our SWISS networking ideas – the Lunch Lottery – is being exported to the Lufthansa Group. “Mix & Mingle”, our programme of after-work social events that are organized by a different unit each time and offer a chance to meet up with colleagues new and old from all over the company in friendly and informal surrounds, has so impressed Austrian Airlines that they’re adopting it, too. And our “Lunch Lottery” is also earning groupwide appeal: the programme, which won a Lufthansa Group Innovator Award last year, is being introduced by Lufthansa at its Frankfurt base. Along with the MB Breakfast Lottery, the Lunch Lottery is one of our two platforms that

offer our people the chance of a personal exchange of news and views, between and beyond units and free of hierarchical levels. Over 200 of us have taken advantage of it already, from both our flying crew corps and our ground staff in Zurich, Basel and Geneva. Anyone who signs up for the Lunch Lottery is randomly is-

sued a new lunch “date” every two months. The two lunch partners are sent an email with each other’s contact details. They then find a convenient date and location, and meet up for lunch. Interested? You can sign up for our Lunch Lottery programme, too, at https://survey.swiss.com/ uc/ExchangePlatforms