Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich) has issued this statement:

Swiss International Air Lines and its Aeropers and IPG pilots’ unions have reached an agreement in their negotiations on the future overall structure and working parameters for the company’s cockpit crew corps.

Swiss and its Aeropers and IPG cockpit crew unions have been in discussions since the end of last year with a view to establishing forward-looking working structures and laying the foundations for a single pilot corps. After intensive negotiations, the parties have found a viable compromise in the last few days that has met with the approval of both unions and the company.

The key issues in these discussions have been creating an integrated Swiss European and Swiss International pilot corps, efficiently introducing the new Bombardier CS100 and Boeing 777 aircraft types, sustainably maintaining Swiss’ competitive edge, securing cockpit jobs and establishing and developing the company’s new Geneva crew base.

The agreement reached will now be used to work out the corresponding amendments to the collective labour agreements (CLAs) of the two pilot corps between now and the end of this year. These amendments will then be presented to the unions’ respective members for approval. The aim here is to have all collaborations under the new employment parameters from April 2014 onwards.

With the result of these negotiations, and the corresponding integration of Swiss European Air Lines into Swiss International Air Lines, Swiss is both setting a vital course for its own corporate future and breaking new ground within the airline industry.

In other news, Swiss International Air Lines has named its Airbus A320 HB-JLT “Grenchen” (above) after the town in northwest Switzerland. The aircraft is something of a celebrity in the Swiss fleet: it’s the first member of Swiss’ Airbus A320 family to be equipped with sharklets, the winglets developed by the manufacturer to enhance inflight performance.

The symbolic naming ceremony was held in Grenchen and was attended by Boris Banga, the current Mayor of Grenchen, Daniel Bärlocher, Swiss’ Head of Corporate Communications and Peter Fasler, Head of Licence and Rating Training at Swiss Aviation Training subsidiary. Performing the honor was top Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann, the four-time Olympic gold medallist, World Champion and World Cup Winner, who serves as an ambassador for watch manufacturer Breitling, which is headquartered in the town.

The sharklet-equipped HB-JLT is the 38th member of the Airbus A320 family to be delivered to Swiss. The aircraft is deployed on medium-haul routes in Europe and on services to Africa and the Middle East.

The sharklets reduce aerodynamic drag in the wingtip area. Airbus calculates that the resulting fuel savings reduce the associated carbon dioxide emissions by some 1,000 tons per aircraft per year – the equivalent of the CO2 produced by around 200 averagely-used family cars.

Copyright Photo: Nik French/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 WL HB-JLT (msn 5518) with Sharklets and a new name departs from Manchester.

Swiss: