Gategroup is a Swiss company providing services to the travel industry , including catering , onboard retail, food service provisioning, and food logistics . It serves as the parent company for four core brands, and is a supplier to many major airlines. Its head office is in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, near Zurich Airport .
115-526: Gategroup has its roots in Swissair catering, from which now-subsidiary Gate Gourmet emerged in 1992. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, Gategroup has grown into a multibillion-dollar operation. Acquisitions include Aero-Chef, SAS Service Partner, VARIG Kitchens, British Airways Kitchens and Iber-Swiss. The company was worth roughly 6 billion Swiss francs before the September 11 attacks and
230-574: A Boeing 747 flight on 26 April 1970. It was followed by the introduction of the DC-10-30 on 12 November 1973, and the first Airbus A300 in 1976. In 1979, Lufthansa and Swissair became launch customers for the Airbus A310 with an order for twenty-five aircraft. The company's fleet modernization programme for the 1990s began on 29 June 1985, with an order for fifteen Airbus A320s and seven Airbus A300 -600s. Ten Boeing 737-300s were ordered
345-625: A U.S. Federal Air Marshal . In response to the incident, Delta advised all of their flights leaving Schiphol Airport to stop serving the sandwiches, and an FBI investigation was launched to determine the cause. One passenger was injured, but declined medical attention. In November 2017, Listeria bacteria were found in Gate Gourmet's production facility in Los Angeles. Airlines including American, Delta and Virgin temporarily suspended their use of Gate Gourmet's services. In December 2017,
460-476: A travel ban because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Consequently, the airline incurred losses of 1 million euros per hour by April 2020. While Lufthansa reduced its costs throughout 2020, continuing health risks and travel restrictions still caused hourly losses of approximately 500,000 euros on average at the beginning of 2021. On 14 May, Lufthansa Group announced that it planned to operate 1,800 weekly flights by
575-413: A 16 euro surcharge on Global Distribution System bookings. The surcharge is payable unless tickets are purchased from the airline's website, or its airport service centres and ticket counters. Amadeus said the new model would make "comparison and transparency more difficult because travellers will now be forced to go to multiple channels to search for the best fares." For the period between 1–14 September,
690-487: A UK-based group operating under the Fernley and International Aviation Services (IAS) brands. The acquired companies offer services including aircraft cabin cleaning, aircraft washing, de-icing and toilet and water servicing; security activities such as baggage screening and document verification; airport executive lounges; and passenger services such as wheelchair and unaccompanied minor assistance. Along with Fernley and IAS,
805-417: A basis for the creation of Swiss . By preventing the complete collapse of Swissair, the other airline-related businesses of the group were likewise spared collapse. Following another federal repayable funding commitment of one billion francs, each of the 26 long-haul aircraft ( MD-11s and A330s ) and 26 medium-haul aircraft ( A321s , A320s and A319s ) were able to be transferred to Crossair / Swiss at
920-817: A company that initially used older Swissair aircraft to fly to holiday destinations. As the first European customer, Swissair bought the Douglas DC-7 C which enabled the company to provide non-stop flights to the United States. For shorter-range routes, the Convair Metropolitan was used. In 1957, the Far East was added to the route network. Direct flights to Tokyo had intermediate stops in Athens , Karachi , Bombay , Bangkok and Manila . That same year, Swissair helped Aristotle Onassis form
1035-414: A few days later. All were delivered between 1987 and 1992. Lufthansa also bought Airbus A321 , Airbus A340 , and Boeing 747-400 aircraft. In 1987, Lufthansa, together with Air France , Iberia , and Scandinavian Airlines , founded Amadeus , an IT company (also known as a GDS ) that would enable travel agencies to sell the founders and other airlines' products from a single system. Lufthansa adopted
1150-468: A historical study was commissioned to shed light on this aspect of the company's past. However, Lufthansa was criticized for not publishing the resulting study for more than a decade. The early 2000s witnessed Lufthansa demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of industry challenges. Despite significant industry losses following the 11 September attacks, the airline maintained profitability and strategically avoided workforce reductions. Lufthansa became
1265-541: A large auction where many of the remaining Swissair assets, such as historic items, were auctioned. Today, Gategourmet continues as a subsidiary of Gategroup . Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG ( German pronunciation: [ˌdɔʏtʃə ˈlʊfthanzaː ʔaːˈɡeː] ), or simply Lufthansa , is the flag carrier of Germany . When combined with its subsidiaries, it ranks second in Europe by passengers carried, as well as largest in Europe and fourth largest in
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#17327869971211380-523: A long-standing dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union, which has advocated for a system in which pilots can retire at the age of 55, and 60% of their pay be retained. Lufthansa pilots were joined by pilots from the group's budget carrier Germanwings to stage a nationwide strike in support of their demands in April 2014 which lasted three days. The pilots staged a six-hour strike at the end of
1495-403: A loss of 298 million euros in the first quarter of 2010 and another 13 million loss in the year 2011 due to the economic recession and restructuring costs, Deutsche Lufthansa AG cut 3,500 administrative positions or around 20 percent of the clerical total of 16,800 in 2012. Lufthansa announced a restructuring program called SCORE to improve its operating profit. As a part of the restructuring plan,
1610-462: A major purveyor of West Germany's image abroad. During this time, East Germany attempted to establish its own " Lufthansa " airline in 1955, but legal challenges from the West German carrier led to its abandonment. East Germany subsequently launched Interflug as its national carrier in 1963. Lufthansa embraced the jet age in 1958 by ordering four Boeing 707 aircraft. This marked
1725-629: A national referendum held on 6 December 1992, Swiss citizens rejected taking part in the European Economic Area (EEA). This referendum was a significant disservice to Swissair, an airline with a tiny domestic market: its planes were not allowed to take up passengers during intermediate landings in EEA countries (e.g., Zürich-Frankfurt-New York), and Swissair was not allowed to offer tickets for sections that fully lie in EEA member countries (e.g., Zürich-Frankfurt-Paris). See also freedoms of
1840-450: A new corporate identity in 1988. The fleet was given a new livery, while cabins, city offices, and airport lounges were redesigned. Following German reunification on 3 October 1990, Lufthansa swiftly reintegrated Berlin into its network, marking the city's return as a key destination within 25 days. The mid-1990s saw a period of strategic restructuring for Lufthansa. This involved the establishment of independent operating companies within
1955-576: A quality airline and from the fact that the political neutrality of Switzerland allowed the company to fly to exotic and lucrative destinations in Africa, the Middle East, South America and the Far East. In geographic terms, the central position of Switzerland in Europe helped it generate revenue from transfer passengers. By the early 1970s, Swissair was becoming known as "the flying bank", appealing to
2070-415: A redundancy package of more than twice the statutory minimum in an effort to resolve the labour difficulties, secure a new deal with British Airways, and avoid insolvency . The union later negotiated the reinstatement of some of the employees, but others have continued to protest at their treatment. In a separate 2005 incident, unions representing Gate Gourmet employees in the United States successfully sued
2185-466: A result, service to Chicago from Düsseldorf was first made seasonal, suspended for the winter 2015 season, and then canceled altogether. Service to Newark, however, was initially maintained. From the winter 2015 schedule through the end of the winter 2016 schedule, Düsseldorf was served by aircraft which also flew the Munich-Newark route. The Düsseldorf-Newark route ended on 30 November 2018, which
2300-569: A significant leap forward, allowing them to launch jet flights between Frankfurt and New York City in March 1960. To further bolster their jet fleet, Boeing 720B aircraft (a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways) were later acquired. Lufthansa's network continued to expand throughout the early 1960s. In February 1961, their Far East routes extended beyond Bangkok to include Hong Kong and Tokyo. Africa saw additions in 1962 with Lagos , Nigeria, and Johannesburg , South Africa joining
2415-696: A wider European market. Finally, after deregulation, Swissair tried to expand beyond its home market; after the Alcazar project was cancelled, Swissair aimed to be a major force in European aviation. In the mid-1990s, Swissair initiated the disastrous "Hunter Strategy", a major expansion programme devised by the US consulting firm McKinsey & Co . Using this strategy, Swissair aimed to grow its market share by acquiring small airlines rather than entering into alliance agreements. Swissair decided to acquire 49.5 per cent of
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#17327869971212530-551: Is reflected in its ongoing commitment to the development of industry guidelines." A case study titled "Gate Gourmet Ensures Quality Airline Catering" was published by Global Food Safety Resource, a source for best practices in food safety compliance. In August 2004, 45 people became ill with shigellosis after eating contaminated carrots provided by Gate Gourmet. After the outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected Gate Gourmet's Honolulu facility and determined that there were substantial problems. Gate Gourmet
2645-738: The Curtiss Condor beginning in 1934. Nelly Diener , the first flight attendant in Europe, became world-famous. She was killed after just 79 flights in a crash near Wurmlingen, Germany, on 27 July 1934. The cause of the crash was material fatigue . In 1936, Douglas DC-2s were acquired, and London was added to the route network. In 1937, the bigger Douglas DC-3 was bought. In the same year, both founding fathers died: Walter Mittelholzer died while mountaineering in Steiermark , Austria, and Balz Zimmermann succumbed to an infectious disease. On 27 August 1939, days before World War II broke out,
2760-550: The FDA inspected one of Gate Gourmet's facilities in Erlanger, Kentucky . The FDA found a number of health infractions, including "too numerous to count cockroaches ", including live cockroaches in the ovens used to prepare food, as well as broken and filthy equipment. Pigeons were observed flying over the ovens, as well as eating out of them, and inspectors observed employees cleaning grills with only water and orange juice. In May 2018,
2875-705: The Magadino Plains in Ticino . Operations were suspended in August 1944, when a Swissair DC-2 was destroyed in Stuttgart during an American bombing raid. On 30 July 1945, Swissair was able to resume commercial aviation. In 1947, the rise of shareholder capital to SFr 20 million (equivalent to SFr 95.61 million or US$ 105.06 million in 2021) enabled long-haul flights to New York, South Africa, and South America with Douglas DC-4s . The modern Convair 240 ,
2990-712: The Netherlands . The new range of Gate Gourmet's aviation special services were renamed Gate Aviation Services. In May 2009 Gategroup was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under ticker GATE. In 2010 the company acquired Cara Airline Solutions, the catering business from Cara Operations , thus investing in airline catering services in Canada. In 2012 Gategroup expanded its presence in the Asia Pacific by acquiring two of QANTAS ' QCatering flight kitchens,
3105-640: The Airline Catering Association (ACA), which is based in Brussels , Belgium . In July 2018, Temasek and RRJ Capital joined HNA Group as investors in Gategroup. In April 2019, RRJ Capital completed the acquisition of all outstanding shares in gategroup from HNA Group. As a result, RRJ Capital became the sole shareholder and Temasek was invested in gategroup through a mandatory exchangeable bond. In September 2019, Temasek converted
3220-743: The CV-990s during that time. Swissair was the second European airline to offer service to the People's Republic of China , introducing service to Beijing and Shanghai in 1975. In the same year, Swissair was the launch customer for the DC-9-51. In 1977, Swissair was the launch customer for the third DC-9 type, the DC-9-81 variant, now called the MD-80. Armin Baltensweiler had travelled to a meeting of
3335-566: The Czechoslovak operator CSA purchased a Ford Trimotor in 1930. The Orion was the fastest commercial aeroplane of its time and was put to use on the "Express Line", Zürich - Munich - Vienna . This led Lufthansa to ask Heinkel for a model that could top Orion's speed, leading to the Heinkel He 70 . The first trans-Alpine route was introduced in 1933: Zürich- Milan . For the first time in Europe, flight attendants were employed aboard
3450-692: The DC-4 on transatlantic routes. In 1948, the airport in Dübendorf, which had served as the base of Swissair, was relocated to Zürich-Kloten. Military aviation continued in Dübendorf. The next year, Swissair plunged into a financial crisis due to a sudden devaluation of the British pound because fares, except for traffic to the United States, were calculated in British currency. At that time, traffic to England made up 40 per cent of Swissair's revenue. In June 1950, Walter Berchtold, manager of Swiss Federal Railways,
3565-450: The FDA reported that Gate Gourmet had addressed these concerns. Swissair Swissair ( German : Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG ; French : S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne ) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002. Swissair was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero . For most of its 71 years, it
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3680-460: The French Alps, killing all 150 aboard whereas Spohr had misleadingly said the co-pilot "was 100% airworthy without any restrictions, without any conditions". In June 2015, Lufthansa announced plans to close its small long-haul base at Düsseldorf Airport for economic reasons by October 2015. At the time, the base consisted of two Airbus A340-300s rotating between Newark and Chicago . As
3795-550: The French investments. For the first time, the board began to consider scenarios for phasing out its existing participation in other airlines as Swissair looked to withdraw from its foreign investments. In January 2001, Bruggisser was summarily dismissed. Moritz Suter, the founder of Crossair, was nominated as the new CEO of SAirLines and thus all Group airlines, including Swissair. After only 44 days in charge, Suter resigned. In March 2001, two studies by consultants were presented to
3910-540: The Lufthansa Group, specializing in areas like maintenance ( Lufthansa Technik ), cargo ( Lufthansa Cargo ), and information technology ( Lufthansa Systems ). Over time, the group further expanded through the addition of LSG Sky Chefs (catering), Condor (leisure travel), and Lufthansa CityLine (regional operations). Lufthansa joined Air Canada , Scandinavian Airlines , Thai Airways International , and United Airlines to form Star Alliance on 18 May 1997,
4025-446: The March 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 incident, "the darkest day for Lufthansa in its 60-year history", when pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally flew an aircraft into a mountain, murdering 149 passengers. Nonetheless, damage control by Spohr and his team was poor according to several sources. It was revealed that Lubitz suffered from a severe case of depression and mental disorders and had intentionally crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 into
4140-644: The McDonnell-Douglas directorial board in St. Louis to convince them to further stretch the fuselage of the DC-9-51. Baltensweiler was called the "Father of the MD-80". In 1979, Swissair was the first company to order the Airbus A310 and the jumbo jet variant with a stretched upper deck, the Boeing 747-300 . Later on, the Fokker 100 short-range aircraft and the three-engined MD-11 were aircraft for which Swissair
4255-631: The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain, as well as the global equipment business under the SPIRIANT brand, as well as the European convenience food business under the brand Evertaste, the Ringeltaube brand retail operations, and train catering and lounges. Gategroup is a multinational organization with operations on six continents. As of 2018, it had more than 43,000 employees working across more than 200 facilities in 60 countries. 2018 revenue
4370-645: The Riverside kitchen in Sydney and the entire Cairns operation. The Riverside kitchen in Sydney operated as a third-party provider to other airlines and did not include QANTAS flight operations and should not be confused with the QCatering centre located at Sydney airport, now operated by DNATA. In 2013, Gate Gourmet acquired the business activities of Pacific Flight Catering in New Zealand . In February 2016
4485-655: The SAirGroup were handed over to the liquidation firm of Jürg Hoss and ceased operations on 31 March 2002. Crossair was renamed Swiss International Air Lines , or Swiss for short, and took over Swissair's intercontinental routes on 1 April 2002, officially ending 71 years of Swissair service. An investigation by the Zurich branch of Ernst & Young into factors behind the grounding revealed that "...in contradiction to representations made by SAir Group, not just 14.5 million Swiss Francs, but around CHF50 million were available at
4600-539: The South Atlantic from August 1956. However, the political realities of the time presented challenges to the airline. The United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France did not allow Lufthansa to fly to any part of the divided Berlin during the division of Germany . The airline had hoped this would only be a temporary matter and planned to move its headquarters and primary hub back to the German capital once
4715-712: The Spiriant brand, its European convenience food business, train catering, lounges and Lufthansa employee markets under the Ringeltaube brand. Gategroup will take on the catering contract with Lufthansa, including the airline's main hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2020. On December 2, 2020, Gategroup announced the completion of the acquisition of LSG Group's European business from Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The transaction includes LSG's in-flight catering operations in Germany, Switzerland,
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4830-658: The Swiss Federal Government. The final Swissair flight landed in Zürich from São Paulo on 1 April 2002. On 1 April 2002, a former regional subsidiary Crossair renamed itself Swiss International Air Lines and took over most of Swissair's routes, planes , and staff. Swissair Group still exists and has since been liquidated. Swiss International Air Lines was taken over by the German airline Lufthansa in 2005. On 26 March 1931, Swissair – Schweizerische Luftverkehr AG (English: Swissair – Swiss Air Transport )
4945-483: The US Pullman railway cars . Two adjacent seats were moved towards each other and formed a lower berth. The wall panel could be folded downward, forming the upper berth in which the other person could sleep. A year later, a tourist class cabin was introduced on intra-European flights. In 1953, Swissair, with the city of Basel , founded a charter company called Balair , reusing the name of one of its predecessors,
5060-463: The acquisition of Swedish travel retail specialist Inflight Service Group (IFS) was completed. In March 2016 Gategroup acquired 75% of Cambodia Air Catering Services. In April 2016, Chinese conglomerate HNA Group offered to buy Gategroup for 1.4 billion Swiss francs. In the beginning of July 2016, HNA Group declared they had bought 63.6 percent of the voting rights and shares in Gategroup. By October 2016, HNA Group had acquired 96.1 percent of
5175-440: The air . Like other airlines based in smaller countries, Swissair was now under significant pressure. More and more national airlines have affiliated themselves with airline alliances to maintain a worldwide market presence. But to be interesting for American alliance partners, an airline must have a critical size in terms of passenger numbers. To meet that goal, in 1993, an alliance between Swissair, KLM, SAS, and Austrian Airlines
5290-532: The airline announced it would sell six A380 aircraft back to Airbus, beginning in 2022. Pro-migration activists from Germany have criticised Lufthansa for performing deportation flights on behalf of the German government. In 2019, 4,573 people were deported on their planes, while their subsidiary Eurowings performed 1,312 deportations. This totals more than 25% of deportations in Germany in 2019. At least two deportees perished during transport. On 19 March 2020, Lufthansa cancelled 95 percent of all flights due to
5405-469: The airline experienced a 16.1% drop in revenue, indicating to some that the new fee backfired, although the airline maintains that the decrease was due to the pilot strike, and "other seasonal effects". In October 2017, Lufthansa took over 81 aircraft from the insolvent Air Berlin . The total purchase price for the shares acquired by Lufthansa from the insolvency estate of Air Berlin amounted to around 210 million euros. On 4 December 2017, Lufthansa became
5520-541: The airport walked out, and mass pickets of Gate Gourmet were organised by the Transport and General Workers' Union . The American head of Gate Gourmet at the time, Dave Siegel, blamed the industrial action on "the most irrational, irresponsible group" he had ever seen in organised labour. Several workers alleged that Gate Gourmet had engineered the dispute to employ non-union workers at lower wages and with worse conditions of employment . The company subsequently offered
5635-477: The airspace over Germany and France was closed. Swissair was forced to suspend service to Amsterdam, Paris, and London. Two days later, the Swissair service was closed completely. Of 180 employees, 131 had to serve in the army. Despite the war, some routes were later re-introduced, such as Munich, Berlin , Rome , and Barcelona . In 1940, an invasion of Switzerland was feared, and Swissair moved their operations to
5750-537: The bank's acronym, "UBS", as the United Bandits of Switzerland . Two large bridge loans from the Swiss government were required to finance the continuation of flight operations. This notwithstanding, with the resumption of flight service, it was necessary for flight crews to carry large sums of cash to purchase fuel at foreign airports. On 1 October 2001, Project "Phoenix" was announced, under which parts of
5865-606: The bankruptcy of Swissair. The rise of oil prices and collapse in consumer travel damaged airlines and many of Gate Gourmet's main customers went bankrupt or narrowly avoided bankruptcy. The weakness of the airlines affected the industries that cater to or support it. This set the stage for Gate Gourmet requiring a restructuring effort, which soon burdened its employees. The company was then sold in 2002 to Texas Pacific Group for US$ 870 million. On 1 March 2007, Texas Pacific Group sold its remaining shares in Gate Gourmet to Merrill Lynch . On September 27, 2007, Gate Gourmet acquired
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#17327869971215980-779: The banks, with some hotels expelling the crew, and having them return home at their own expense. All tickets sold were voided. 4 October 2001 saw demonstrations by former Swissair employees before the UBS presentation held in Glattbrugg, and the following day saw demonstrations in Bern 's Federal Square. At around the same time, SAirGroup's stake in Crossair was sold to the Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse . Furthermore, Crossair took over various assets of former Swissair, including its employees, aircraft, and most European routes. Swissair and
6095-410: The board, which showed the financial difficulties of SAirGroup. At this point, the directors resigned, with only Mario Corti , the former CFO of Nestlé , remaining. From April to August 2001, the group's Moody's credit rating was gradually downgraded from A3 to B1 (it was downgraded further to B2 on September 18th). The buying spree created a major cash flow crisis for parent company SAirGroup and
6210-551: The branding of the former flag carrier by acquiring the Luft Hansa name and logo in 1954. Lufthansa's corporate headquarters are in Cologne . The main operations base, called Lufthansa Aviation Center , is located at Frankfurt Airport , the airline's primary hub. It also maintains a secondary hub at Munich Airport , along with its Flight Operations Centre . Lufthansa traces its history to 1926 when Deutsche Luft Hansa
6325-425: The company after it tried to eliminate the employees' healthcare benefits. In December 2018, a survey by the union of drivers for Gate Gourmet flagged concerns about the catering vehicles used to service planes. 97% of drivers reported that Gate Gourmet is continuing to use vehicles which are labeled "no go" due to issues like broken safety rails, missing emergency equipment or broken brakes. Drivers also reported that
6440-432: The company started to transfer all short-haul flights outside its hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, and Düsseldorf to the company's re-branded low-cost carrier Germanwings . In September 2013, Lufthansa Group announced its biggest order, for 59 wide-body aircraft valued more than 14 billion euros at list prices. Earlier in the same year, Lufthansa placed an order for 100 next-generation narrow-body aircraft. The group has had
6555-681: The company struggled with severe turbulence: a currency crisis, collective chaos, an air traffic controllers' strike, the October War and the first oil crisis were weathered without significant damage. In the same year, the regional representative of Swissair in Buenos Aires was kidnapped by the Montoneros . After 38 days in captivity, he was released after the payment of SFr12.35 million (equivalent to SFr29.69 million or US$ 32.63 million in 2021) ransom. The airline also phased out
6670-495: The company's disposal on the morning of October 2, 2001". The report further stated that "Without the administrative inadequacies connected with the release of an escrow account , an additional CHF 73 million would have been available. Thus, overall some CHF 123 million would have been available at SAirGroup, SAirLines and Swissair." Former Crossair executive André Dosé, who also served as the first CEO of successor airline Swiss International Air Lines , stated in 2004 that this meant
6785-485: The desire to partner with Air France instead. During the European airline deregulation transition, Jeffrey Katz served as CEO of Swissair from 1997 to 2000, a period of increased fuel prices and industry overcapacity . In the summer of 2000, SAir's CEO Philippe Bruggisser came under public pressure as the press published the group's financial situation. Swissair and Sabena were each losing one million francs per day, and another million were lost every day at LTU and
6900-485: The distinction of being the first customer for the Boeing 737 and one of only four buyers of the initial 737-100 model (alongside NASA , Malaysia-Singapore Airlines , and Avianca ). While NASA technically had the first built 737 airframe, it was ultimately delivered last and originally intended for Lufthansa, making them the first foreign launch customer for a Boeing airliner. The wide-body era for Lufthansa started with
7015-674: The end of June. The company's recovery plans involved high-density cargo to replace paying customers. All Lufthansa Group required all passengers to wear a mask while aboard. On 25 June, Deutsche Lufthansa AG shareholders accepted a € 9,000,000,000 bailout, consisting of capital measures and the participation of the Economic Stabilisation Fund (WSF) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy . The measures, which passed after initial opposition by principal shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele , gave
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#17327869971217130-462: The end of that year, kerosene prices had doubled , and fuel costs had increased from 12% to 16% of total costs. Swissair was the first to order the Airbus A310 designed with a two-man cockpit for more traffic-tight short distances and on shorter medium distances, and accepted options for 10 more units. Another Boeing 747 was ordered. Dublin was added to the route network as a new destination, but service to Beirut had to be discontinued in mid-July due to
7245-489: The end of the 2000s, Lufthansa made a large commitment to very large aircraft, introducing the first of 14 Airbus A380 in 2010 and becoming the becoming the launch customer for the Boeing 747-8I in 2012, eventually purchasing 19 of the type. In 2011 Lufthansa planned significant growth at Berlin Brandenburg Airport for the originally planned opening in 2012 with many new connections from Berlin. After
7360-704: The end of the winter schedule of 2001/02. On Easter Monday, 1 April 2002, the last flight of Swissair, flight SR145 from São Paulo, landed in Zürich. A 71-year-long chapter of Swiss aviation history thus came to an end. Between 1931 and 2002, Swissair transported more than 260 million passengers. The SwissairGroup (the name change from SAirGroup to SwissairGroup was announced in 2001 but never officially implemented) still existed as 'SAirGroup in Nachlassstundung' ( German : Swissair in Administration ) for several years until all assets were liquidated, including
7475-436: The evaluation. In celebration, Lufthansa painted an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 747-8 in the "5 Starhansa" livery. In March 2018, Lufthansa and other airlines like British Airways and American Airlines accepted a request from Beijing to list Taiwan as part of China. In March 2019, Lufthansa ordered 20 Boeing 787-9 and an additional 20 Airbus A350-900 for its own and the group's fleet replacement and expansion. Also,
7590-601: The expense of the core business of Swissair: commercial aviation. Due to a 12-day global flight ban for the DC-10 imposed by the US Federal Aviation Administration after the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 on 25 May 1979, a sizable portion of the long-haul fleet was on the ground. On October 7, after landing in Athens, a DC-8 overran the runway and caught fire , killing 14 passengers. By
7705-403: The federal government, cantons, municipalities, the Swiss Federal Railways, and the Swiss postal services, took over 30.6% of the shares and enabled Swissair to get a credit of 15 million Swiss Francs to purchase the airline's first two Douglas DC-6 B airliners for delivery in 1951. By that act, Swissair became Switzerland's national flag carrier . The new pressurised aircraft was to replace
7820-495: The first European airline to do so, Swissair signed in 1989 a cooperation treaty with Delta Air Lines and Singapore Airlines to create the alliance "Global Excellence". In 1990, together with SAS, Austrian Airlines and Finnair , the "European Quality Alliance" was founded. The last alliance was later renamed "The Qualiflyer Group". Because of the weak economy, the Gulf War and its aftermath, and rising operational costs, many airlines lost money in 1990 and 1991. Additionally,
7935-408: The first European airline to receive the Skytrax 5-star certification. As stated by Skytrax, a key factor in the positive rating was the announcement of a new Business Class cabin and seating that was expected to be introduced in 2020. While this makes Lufthansa the 10th airline to be holding this award, in reality the 5th star was given to a product that was supposed to be introduced two years after
8050-407: The first Swissair plane with a pressurised cabin, was used for short and medium-range flights starting in late 1948. The first Swissair DC-4 flight to New York was routed via Shannon , Ireland, and Stephenville, Newfoundland , on 2 May 1947. However, it ended in Washington, D.C. , due to fog at New York's LaGuardia Airport . The total elapsed time was 20 hours and 55 minutes. The public, including
8165-445: The first morning flights. During the morning, fuel suppliers refused to fuel the waiting aircraft. At 15:45 CEST , CEO Mario Corti announced a cessation of flight operations due to the security risks caused by the crossing of the Flight Duty Regulations. This led to the cancellation of over 230 flights, and thousands of passengers, as well as flight crews, were stranded around the world. Flight crew corporate credit cards were blocked by
8280-431: The government a 20% stake in the airline. In January 2021, Lufthansa CEO Spohr announced that the entire currently stored Airbus A340-600 fleet will be retired with immediate effect and not return to service anymore. This decision was later overturned, with several A340-600 aircraft returning to service in 2021 after several months in storage. In June 2021, Lufthansa said it wants to repay state aid it received during
8395-536: The grey-blue ones of the Swiss Women's Army Corps , so Berchtold introduced ones in a modish marine blue. Swissair initiated a veritable fashion competition among European airlines. In 1952, the cabin layout on northern trans-Atlantic routes was changed to one with a first and a tourist (economy) class. The first-class cabin had comfortable chairs in which one could sleep, given the name "Slumberettes". Those sleeping chairs were soon succeeded by beds, modelled after
8510-424: The grounding was not necessary and that Swissair could have likely continued flying until the financing for a successor airline would have been finalized, a view he reiterated in a 2021 interview. In his 2004 statement, Dose voiced the view that Corti and then-CFO Jacqualyn Fouse had lost oversight of Swissair's finances, accounting for this mismatch in perception of available funds. Mario Corti vehemently rejected
8625-647: The group also includes Specialist Airport Services, European Airport Services and Airfield Services Ltd. The companies operate primarily in the UK, including at London's Heathrow , Gatwick , Stansted and Luton airports, as well as Manchester, Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Liverpool, East Midlands, Biggin Hill and Glasgow. European Airport Services also operates in Amsterdam; Brussels, and several other regional airports in France and
8740-430: The group sought a payment delay. The Swiss federal authorities were willing to pay back half of the loan, so they secured the continuation of service. 2 October 2001 saw an increased necessity for strong liquidity, as all suppliers insisted on cash payments of outstanding invoices following a request for payment delay announced the day before. The company's cash reserves filed on that day were barely sufficient to carry out
8855-674: The large hidden assets and the huge liquidity Swissair had. Second, "flying bank" was the designation for a corporate group that cared more about financial management than about flying aeroplanes. With the beginning of deregulation and liberalisation in the late 1970s, airlines felt growing financial pressure. In 1978, Moritz Suter founded a regional airline named Crossair , which put Swissair under additional stress. To counter these changes, Swissair invested their large financial reserves into takeovers and into flight-related trades like baggage handling, catering, aircraft maintenance, and duty-free stores. This strategy diversified economic risks at
8970-458: The launch customer for the Connexion by Boeing in-flight internet connectivity in 2004. Lufthansa further solidified its position as a major European airline group through strategic acquisitions. The acquisitions of Swiss International Air Lines in 2005, Brussels Airlines (staged between 2009 and 2017), and Austrian Airlines in 2009 expanded the group's reach and network capabilities. At
9085-530: The liquidated Deutsche Lufthansa for DM 30,000 (equivalent to €41,000 today), thus continuing the tradition of a German flag carrier with that name. On 1 April 1955, Lufthansa won approval to commence operation of scheduled domestic flights. The airline's initial network linked Hamburg , Düsseldorf , Frankfurt , Cologne, and Munich . International flights started on 15 May 1955, to London , Paris , and Madrid , followed by Super Constellation flights to New York City from 1 June of that year, and across
9200-406: The mandatory exchangeable bond to acquire 50% stake in gategroup, making Temasek and RRJ co-shareholders. In December 2019, gategroup reached an agreement for a takeover of the European business of Deutsche Lufthansa AG subsidiary LSG Group, to include LSG's on-board operating business in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain, as well as its global equipment business under
9315-510: The network. Innovation continued with the introduction of the Boeing 727 in 1964. This enabled Lufthansa to launch a pioneering Polar route from Frankfurt to Tokyo via Anchorage in May of that year. Further expansion plans were solidified in February 1965 with the order of twenty-one Boeing 737 aircraft, entering service in 1968. Lufthansa's role in Boeing's history is noteworthy. They hold
9430-540: The new Greek airline, Olympic Airways . While competitors first looked at turboprop aeroplanes to replace their piston-engined craft, Swissair introduced jet aeroplanes. Together with SAS, Swissair bought Douglas DC-8s , which were delivered beginning in 1960. For medium and short-range routes, the Sud Aviation Caravelle was purchased. The aircraft were maintained in concert with SAS, and manuals for operation and maintenance were co-written. Swissair
9545-470: The notion that Swissair and SAirGroup bank accounts together held more than 14 million Swiss francs in a public statement after the Ernst & Young report came out. On 5 October, commercial flights on most routes were gradually resumed thanks to a federal emergency loan of over CHF 450 million. This occurred, in part, to ensure Switzerland's continued accessibility as a business location and to establish
9660-495: The older and smaller DC-9. In addition, modern, fuel-saving aircraft, such as five new Boeing 747s with extended upper decks and two DC-10-30s with a longer range, were ordered. With the connection of Zurich Airport to the national railway network, bus delivery services from Zürich were discontinued. Air passengers were already able to check their luggage at the rail station. The route network was expanded with service to Jakarta, but flights to Tehran and Baghdad had to be suspended after
9775-477: The ongoing liberalisation of the industry strengthened competition. Consequently, Swissair lost 99 million Swiss Francs in the first half-year and could not pay dividends to its shareholders. In 1991 and 1992, Swissair had to utilise financial reserves to cushion significant losses from the commercial aviation sector. On 1 January 1991, commercial aviation in Europe was completely liberalised, and existing capacities led to aggressive competition among airlines. In
9890-832: The outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war. By the end of 1980, Swissair was represented in 196 cities. New representations or points of sale were opened in Luxembourg, Ulm, Ottawa, Raleigh, Westchester, Valparaíso, Jubil, Sanaa, and Salisbury/Harare. Under the name Swissôtel , the hotels Président in Geneva, International in Zürich, Drake in New York, and Bellevue Palace in Bern were administratively combined. Regarding further liberalisation of Europe's airline market, Swissair focused more on commercial aviation and extended its partnerships. As
10005-654: The pandemic before Germany's federal election in September 2021 if possible. Also in June 2021, Lufthansa said it would change its communications to adopt a more gender-neutral and inclusive language. It will remove greetings such as " Ladies and Gentlemen ". In January 2022, Lufthansa admitted it had operated over 18,000 empty flights to keep airport slots during the pandemic. In March 2022, Lufthansa originally confirmed that its entire Airbus A380 fleet would be retired, having been in storage since early 2020. This decision
10120-452: The political situation changed, plans that ultimately never came to fruition. Instead, Lufthansa turned Frankfurt Airport into its primary hub in 1958. The airline also embarked on a marketing campaign to encourage travelers to consider visiting West Germany as it rebuilt in the wake of World War II and to use its hub to connect to other locations across Europe. By 1963, the airline, initially limited in its public relations efforts, had become
10235-542: The political turmoil in Lebanon. Swissair was able to outperform the competition in a year that experts deemed to be the worst in the history of civil aviation. In contrast to other airlines, which began to offer a second-tier executive class , the proven cabin division into first and economy classes was maintained. The short-haul fleet was renewed with the MD-81 (DC-9-81) introduction. This type of aircraft partially replaced
10350-413: The pre-war Deutsche Luft Hansa. West Germany had not yet been granted full sovereignty over its airspace, so it was not known when the new airline could become operational. Nevertheless, in 1953, Luftag placed orders for four Convair CV-340 and four Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations aircraft and set up a maintenance base at Hamburg Airport . On 6 August 1954, Luftag acquired the name and logo of
10465-407: The same year, the first Boeing 747-200 jumbo jet was acquired, and in the next year, the first McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 followed. Both types shaped the long-haul fleet until the 1990s. Again, the specifications of both aircraft were developed in collaboration with SAS. Also in 1972, Switzerland introduced a prohibition of night flights, which led to the cessation of cheaper night fares. In 1973,
10580-473: The short and medium-range routes, and, after convincing Douglas , which soon merged with McDonnell Aircraft to create McDonnell Douglas , ultimately merged with Boeing , offered a stretched variant: the DC-9-32. For the first time, Swissair was the launch customer of an aircraft type. In 1971, Armin Baltensweiler took over as president of the directorial board and ran the enterprise for over two decades. In
10695-446: The summer holidays in September 2014, which caused the cancellation of 200 Lufthansa flights and 100 Germanwings flights. During the course of the 2014 FIFA World Cup , part of the fleet was branded "Fanhansa". In November 2014, Lufthansa signed an outsourcing deal worth $ 1.25 billion with IBM that will see the US company take over the airline's IT infrastructure services division and staff. Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa's CEO, called
10810-506: The surrender of Germany and the ensuing Allied occupation of Germany , all aircraft in the country were seized and Deutsche Luft Hansa was dissolved. The remaining assets were liquidated on 1 January 1951. In an effort to create a new national airline, a company called Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf ( Luftag ) was founded in the city of Cologne in West Germany on 6 January 1953, with many of its staff having worked for
10925-489: The vehicles are infested with rodents or insects. Gate Gourmet is an active member of The International Food Services Association's Government Affairs and Education Committee, which issues the World Food Safety Guidelines for Airline Catering (WFSG). IFSA noted in the 2019 WFSG release: "Food safety has long been recognized by the airline catering industry as a matter of paramount importance and this
11040-465: The very successful Italian charter airline Air Europe, the unprofitable Belgian flag carrier Sabena , and significant stakes in the carriers Air Liberté , AOM , Air Littoral , Volare , LOT , Turkish Airlines , South African Airways , Portugália and LTU , and planned to acquire stakes in Aer Lingus , Finnair , Malév , as well as Brazilian carriers TAM and Transbrasil . By mid-2000, it
11155-516: The voting rights and applied for a delisting of the remaining shares in Gategroup. They also informed that they were seeking to acquire 98 percent in order to request for the cancellation of the remaining publicly held shares. In January 2017 Gategroup acquired control of Servair from Air France , adding a major presence in Africa. Gategroup was delisted from the SIX Swiss Exchange in April 2017. In February 2018 gategroup co-founded
11270-658: The world by revenue . Lufthansa is also one of the five founding members of Star Alliance , which is the world's largest airline alliance , formed in 1997. Lufthansa was founded in 1953 and commenced operations in April 1955. Besides operating flights under its own brand, the Lufthansa Group also owns several other airlines, including Austrian Airlines , Brussels Airlines , Discover Airlines , Eurowings and Swiss International Air Lines . The group also owns several aviation-related companies, including Global Load Control , Lufthansa Consulting , Lufthansa Flight Training , Lufthansa Systems and Lufthansa Technik . The company
11385-400: The world's first multilateral airline alliance . Lufthansa actively addressed its historical legacy during this period. In 1999, the airline participated in a German initiative aimed at resolving wartime misdeeds, acknowledging the use of forced labor by its predecessor, Deutsche Luft Hansa. As part of the initiative, Lufthansa also reportedly paid tens of millions German marks. Additionally,
11500-474: Was approximately 4.9 billion Swiss Francs. Gategroup has four core brands: deSter, Gate Gourmet, gateretail and Servair . A major dispute, reminiscent of the Grunwick dispute of the 1970s, ensued when it sacked 670 staff based at Heathrow Airport in August 2005; the staff were gathered in a car park and the announcement made by megaphone. In sympathy with the sacked workers, British Airways staff at
11615-416: Was elected to the directorial board of Swissair and served as the director. In 1971, he created the corporate culture of Swissair. He grasped the importance of corporate image and corporate identity and after the example of BOAC 's " Speedbird ", he introduced the arrow-shaped Swissair logo. Giving flight personnel a distinct uniform was also an important move. At the time, flight attendants' uniforms resembled
11730-568: Was exacerbated by the environment caused by the September 11 attacks . Unable to make payments to creditors on its large debt, and with the refusal of UBS to extend its line of credit, on 2 October 2001 the entire Swissair fleet was abruptly grounded. Many blamed UBS for the fiasco, causing demonstrators to take to the streets with signs referring to UBS chairman Marcel Ospel as " Bin Ospel ", quoting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden , and redefining
11845-434: Was first deemed "un-Swiss". In the first operational year, 64 people were employed, including ten pilots, seven radio operators, and eight mechanics. Their planes offered 85 seats, and operation was maintained only from March to October. The route network had a length of 4,203 kilometres (2,612 mi). On 17 April 1932, Swissair bought two Lockheed Orions , making them the second European airline to use American planes after
11960-599: Was formed in Berlin by the merger of Deutscher Aero Lloyd , the world´s sixth-oldest airline , and Junkers Luftverkehr . Deutsche Luft Hansa was Germany's flag carrier until the outbreak of war when it came under the command of the Luftwaffe . During the war, the airline was focused mainly on aircraft maintenance and repair in which forced labor was employed on the site of Berlin Tempelhof Airport . Following
12075-463: Was founded as Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf (often shortened to Luftag ) on 6 January 1953 by staff of the former Deutsche Luft Hansa , Germany's national airline founded in 1926. While Deutsche Luft Hansa played a significant role in the development of commercial aviation in Germany, it was liquidated in 1951 due to its association with the Nazi regime during World War II . Luftag adopted
12190-403: Was founded through the fusion of the airlines Ad Astra Aero (founded in 1919) and Balair (1925). Balz Zimmermann and the Swiss aviation pioneer Walter Mittelholzer were the founding fathers. In contrast to other airlines, it did not receive support from the government. The name "Swissair" was the proposal of Dr Alphonse Ehinger, president of the directorial board of Balair, although "Swissair"
12305-574: Was one of the few companies to order the Convair 990 Coronado for its medium and long-range routes. Although the aircraft did not initially fulfil contractual specifications, they were liked by employees and customers. They operated on the airline's routes to South America, West Africa, and the Middle and Far East. 1966 saw the introduction of the Douglas DC-9 . That aircraft became the backbone of
12420-694: Was one of the major international airlines and known as the "Flying Bank" due to its financial stability, causing it to be regarded as a Swiss national symbol and icon. It was headquartered at Zurich Airport , Kloten . In 1997, the Swissair Group was renamed SAirGroup (although it was again renamed Swissair Group in 2001), with four subdivisions: SAirLines (to which Swissair, regional subsidiaries Crossair and Balair, and leasing subsidiary FlightLease belonged), SAirServices, SAirLogistics, and SAirRelations. Due to its so-called "Hunter Strategy" of expanding its market by acquiring smaller airlines, Swissair
12535-455: Was operated with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Their base was officially closed in March 2019. On 22 March 2016, Lufthansa ended Boeing 737-500 operations. The airline's last Boeing 737 (a 737-300) was retired on 29 October 2016, after a flight from Milan to Frankfurt. Lufthansa operated the 737 in several variants for almost 50 years, the first aircraft having been delivered on 27 December 1967. On 1 September 2015, Lufthansa implemented
12650-694: Was predicted that Swissair would lose between SFr3.25 billion (equivalent to SFr3.51 billion or US$ 3.86 billion in 2021) and SFr4.45 billion (equivalent to SFr4.81 billion or US$ 5.29 billion in 2021) over the next three fiscal years. The management, however, maintained classical restructuring, and the Board approved the reorganisation of LTU for approximately SFr500 million (equivalent to SFr540.41 million or US$ 593.86 million in 2021) . Also, there were plans to take over Alitalia . In October 1999, Delta Air Lines cancelled its transatlantic Atlantic Excellence alliance with Swissair and Sabena , citing
12765-434: Was proposed. This project bore the name " Alcazar " to create a single Central European airline. However, in various countries, this project was criticised. In Switzerland itself, it was thought that the huge financial assets were too precious to sacrifice to merge Swissair with the other airlines. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Swissair tried to merge with Air France , Lufthansa , and British Airways to get access to
12880-447: Was reversed in June 2022, with plans to now return up to five aircraft from storage by 2023 to be based at Munich Airport . There is also an option to return all eight remaining A380 aircraft to service by 2024, as six of formerly 14 have already been sold. In May 2022, Skytrax demoted Lufthansa from its aforementioned 5-star rating which it held since 2017 as the first European carrier to do so, to an overall 4-star rating. In 2023,
12995-490: Was suffering from over-expansion by the late 1990s. The crash of Swissair Flight 111 in 1998, which killed all 229 people on board, generated a costly lawsuit and negative publicity for the airline. After the economic downturn following the September 11 attacks , Swissair's assets dramatically lost value, grounding the already-troubled airline in October 2001. The airline was later revived and kept alive until 31 March 2002 by
13110-505: Was the launch customer. 1983 saw the replacement of the older DC-9s with MD-83s. Since the 1960s, Swissair has been a world leader in the development of cargo reservation systems (CRS). PARS and CARIDO were examples of systems enabling the booking of passenger seats and freight space. After the 1960s, air traffic increased quickly and allowed many airlines—many of which were quasi-monopolists on their routes—to yield high revenues. Swissair profited from its well-established reputation as
13225-532: Was warned that unless the problems were rectified, its facility would be shut down. On July 16, 2012, sewing needles were discovered in four different turkey sandwiches on separate Delta Air Lines flights. Each sandwich was distributed by Gate Gourmet. The flights originated from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam , Netherlands, to several different U.S. cities, including Atlanta , Minneapolis , and Seattle . The needles were discovered by passengers, including
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