=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2002/03/31/f= inancial1244EST0009.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, March 31, 2002 (AP) Swiss airline makes first flight NAOMI KOPPEL, Associated Press Writer (03-31) 09:44 PST GENEVA (AP) -- Switzerland's new national airline, Swiss, took to the air Sunday mornin= g, combining the services of the defunct carrier Swissair and regional airline Crossair. The first Swiss flight was a 30-minute hop from Basel to Zurich -- the t= wo headquarters of the new airline. The 6 a.m. flight took off half an hour late because of the media interest, said spokesman Patrick Jeandrain. The airline's new boss, Andre Dose, was aboard the nearly full flight, Jeandrain said. The last Swissair plane will not touch down until Monday. Flight SR145 from Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo is scheduled to arrive in Zurich at 7:20 a.m. local time. Dose, formerly head of Crossair, told Swiss radio that he was "optimisti= c" about the airline's future. He said reservations for flights so far had been better than expected. However, he said it would take some time to settle an accord to enter the Oneworld Alliance headed by American Airlines and British Airways. Swiss has already announced a code-sharing partnership with American. Swissair collapsed in October with debts of 13 billion Swiss francs ($7.9 million), and it took an injection of 450 million francs ($273 million) in emergency funds from the government to keep its planes in the air over the winter period. The government then helped organize a group of corporate sponsors, led by the world's largest food company, Nestle SA. Together, federal and local governments and Swiss companies raised 2.75 billion francs ($1.7 billion) to give Swiss a stable financial base. The new airline combines the profitable regional service of Crossair -- once a Swissair subsidiary -- with many, but not all, of the short- and long-haul routes flown by Swissair. The new company will have 128 aircraft and fly to 126 destinations in 59 countries. Swiss has 5,500 employees -- 2,000 fewer than Swissair -- and former Swissair pilots have accepted a 35 percent pay cut to fly for Swiss. Swiss is likely to lose some 1.1 billion francs ($662 million) this year but is expected to make a profit in 2003. The company announced on Tuesday that it will replace 13 MD-11 long-haul aircraft it inherited from Swissair with the new Airbus A340-300., in part because the new planes will offer more room, are less polluting and less noisy on approach. Swissair Group, which owned Swissair, is being overseen by an estate administrator appointed in the wake of the airline's collapse to make decisions about the group's remaining assets. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 AP