Keystone-SDA
As the summer vacation approaches, the Swiss airline has implemented various measures to face a period which promises to be very busy in Swiss airports. Punctuality of flights is one of the main priorities.
(Keystone-ATS) “Summer is the highly absolute season of our activity,” insists Oliver Buchhofer, Director of Operations (COO) at Swiss at a press conference at Zurich airport. “We are targeting a stable number of passengers compared to last summer, while the flights will be a little more numerous, the occupation will be slightly down,” he continues.
On average, 57,000 passengers will be transported every day in the coming weeks and 430 flights insured per day. “We have prepared for several months for the challenge that the summer months represent for our activity and we are well positioned to meet it,” he said.
Punctuality is at the heart of priorities, however in two thirds of cases, delays are linked to external factors: meteorological, safety restrictions or other. “Today is a good day to illustrate it, but a bad day for Swiss: we must cancel around ten flights due to strikes in air traffic control in France,” he regrets.
In addition to the meteorological vagaries, the airline is put to the test with the geopolitical context, the conflict to the Middle East resulting in the closure of certain air spaces, and therefore of the detours to be made.
In June, 59.5% of flights took off on time, compared to 69.3% in May. “During the summer months, we consider that a share of 60% occasional flights is an honorable value. Over the year, we continue to target 70%, ”explains Mr. Buchhofer. Since the beginning of the year, punctuality has been 72% and is therefore located for the moment above the objective.
Swiss has a room for maneuver, thanks to an optimization of the processes in particular. Since April 1, a team of ten people is so only dedicated to the management of aircraft parking times between two flights.
