Fleet cuts prompt dispute with pilot union at Swiss

Swiss has walked away from labour talks with pilot union Aeropers and terminated a collective agreement with the body amid a dispute over planned restructuring in response to the pandemic. The Lufthansa Group subsidiary intends to reduce its fleet as demand is projected not to recover to pre-crisis levels for years, and says that “Aeropers is unwilling to commit to adequate contributions” to the plan. “Swiss will have a significant surplus of pilots in the next few years,” the airline says. It asserts that the talks with Aeropers, which began in August 2020, were aimed at reaching a “new and forward-looking collective labour agreement which would be aligned to the demands of the difficult crisis years ahead”. The existing labour agreement, the carrier adds, “is not suited to either the challenges of the coronavirus crisis or the re-establishment of the company in an uncertain and volatile future”. The union, on the other hand, wanted to discuss only temporary measures under the existing labour agreement, Swiss says. “Without substantial contributions and an expanded scope of action during the coronavirus crisis, we believe it would be irresponsible from a corporate and a business perspective to retain the present collective labour agreement,” states COO Thomas Frick.<br/>