Swiss Air – Fly With Pride
Swiss Air | Image Resource : upload.wikimedia.org
It is the national airline of Switzerland. It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero in 1931. For most of its 71 years, the airways was one of the major international airlines and known as the "Flying Bank" due to the financial stability of the airline, causing it to be regarded as a Swiss national symbol and icon. The founding fathers were Balz Zimmermann and the Swiss aviation pioneer Walter Mittelholzer. The airline thrived into the 1980s, when it was one of the "big four" Western European airlines. It was headquartered at Zurich Airport and in Kloten.
In 1997 the Swiss air Group was renamed SAirGroup (although it was again renamed Swissair Group in 2001), with four subdivisions: SAirlines (to which Cross air, Balair and Flight Lease belonged), SAirServices, SAirLogistics and SAirRelations. In the first operational year 64 people were employed including ten pilots, seven radio operators and eight mechanics. In total, their planes offered 85 seats and operation were maintained only from March to October. The route network had a length of 4,203 kilometers.
Swiss air profited from its excellent reputation as a quality airline and from the fact that the political neutrality of Switzerland allowed the company to fly to exotic, but lucrative destinations in Africa and in the Middle East. In geographic terms, the central position of Switzerland in Europe helped it to generate revenue from transfer passengers. The airline was thus called "The flying bank", appealing to the large hidden assets and the huge liquidity Swissair had. Secondary, the "flying bank" was the designation for a corporate group which cared more about financial management than about flying airplanes.