Swiss on-time performance during summer season lags 70% target

Swiss International Air Lines had a “mixed” summer season as the carrier’s on-time performance rose slightly to 64.2% but remained below the company’s target of 70%. The Zurich-based carrier, part of the Lufthansa Group, on 28 August blamed the vast majority of the punctuality issues on forces beyond its control, saying “travellers were affected by irregularities [mostly] attributable to exogenous factors such as thunderstorms, bottlenecks in Europe’s air traffic control system and associated knock-on delays”. Swiss adds that it had “prepared itself thoroughly” for the peak travel season, which it defines as 1 July to 18 August. It implemented “more than 80 measures” to improve efficiency as it operated 20,797 flights during the period, up 6% year on year, carrying 2.8m passengers, 8% more than last year. “The summer season faced the entire air transport sector – including our Zurich airport hub – with challenges that were both exceptional and in many cases unexpected,” says CCO and interim CE Heike Birlenbach. “The many thunderstorms we experienced along with shortages of air traffic control resources and the resulting knock-on delays had a sizeable adverse impact on our operations.”<br/>