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Swiss, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, is suffering from the Corona-caused aviation crisis like any other airline. To ensure operations, the airline received a ransom injection worth 1.5 billion francs in August, 85 percent of which is guaranteed by the federal government. At the time, the crisis was expected to end soon. But this continues. Without new aid, Switzerland threatens to run out of air before the end of the year. Despite the financial shortage, the Swiss peak is apparently rewarded with bonuses.
With the bonuses, the money should flow directly from the state honey pot into the pockets of members of the Swiss administration. Apparently they want to reward themselves for the brilliant financial year 2019, as the “Tages-Anzeiger” reports. With 578 million francs, the airlines made the second best profit in their history in this splendid year.
This is so, while aviation is unlikely to recover anytime soon. In the best of cases, it will be months, if not years, before the airlines see the light on the horizon again. The economic aid received in August escapes from the bosses’ hands. The survival of the airlines is only guaranteed in the medium term. Despite this, CFO Markus Binkert, CFO Tamur Goudarzi Pour, and COO Thomas Frick are now receiving their bonuses.
No more wage subsidies
Swiss confirmed this to the newspaper. In exchange, the directors agreed to waive the variable remuneration and the increase in the base salary for this year and “until further notice.”
One exception is CEO Thomas Klühr, who will step down at the end of the year: The 58-year-old will only receive his bonus after banks have received the loan from Switzerland, if this happens.
Meanwhile, the Lufthansa group management has announced even more drastic cost-cutting measures in an internal letter to the staff, which, according to its own statements, does not concern Switzerland. The airline remains confident in the possibility of avoiding layoffs through short-time jobs, 15 percent pay cuts, early retirement and natural items. But this calculation will only work if aviation recovers on a large scale in the coming months. (kes)
