Swiss wrote a letter to the Federal Council. According to a media report, she asks the state government to relax the framework conditions for her operation.
This was reported by the Tamedia newspapers on Tuesday with reference to several independent sources from the Federal Palace and with access to the Swiss management. “We confirm a letter to the Federal Council in which it was about an assessment of the situation and not an emergency call,” said a Swiss spokeswoman on Tuesday to the AWP news agency. 
The airline does not provide any further information on the content.
Swiss denies “financial bottleneck”
According to the newspaper report, Swiss also referred to the tense financial situation in the letter. The re could be a financial bottleneck by the end of summer. The spokeswoman denied this clearly. The airline has only drawn a small part of the federally guaranteed loan.
The federal government helped Swiss after the pandemic tore a big hole in the airline’s coffers. Switzerland has issued guarantees for the airline and its sister Edelweiss totaling CHF 1.275 billion. This will allow the two airlines to get loans of 1.5 billion francs from the banks.
Credit has not been used up yet
Of this, Swiss still has around a billion francs available, as the spokeswoman said. Swiss is planning a more detailed report on the overall situation for the annual media conference on March 4th. According to information from December – before the tightened restrictions – the airline made a daily loss of 1.5 to 2 million francs.
After the tightened travel restrictions in Switzerland, the Lufthansa subsidiary drastically cut back flight operations at the beginning of February: it is now offering just a tenth of the previous year’s program. The Federal Council had previously decided that a negative test would be needed to enter Switzerland from February 8th. In addition, travelers from countries with an increased risk of infection have to go into quarantine.
Further layoffs threaten
To make matters worse, the 18-month maximum period of short-time work expired in September, wrote the Tamedia newspapers. The Federal Council should receive the authority from parliament to extend the short-time work by six months, it said.
However, if he does not take this option soon and the business of Swiss does not fly, the airline will have to give serious thought to the number of employees in April or May due to the notice periods.
Further pandemic development is crucial
The spokeswoman explained that the majority of employees are currently on short-time work. It is clear that there will be a job reduction at Swiss due to the corona crisis. “We are relying on three socially responsible measures.”
She confirmed earlier information that hiring freezes, part-time work and early retirement could cut 1,000 jobs within two years. This as long as the natural wastes develop as they have in recent years. The extent to which these measures are sufficient remains to be seen and depends on the further development of the pandemic, said the spokeswoman. (SDA / vnf)
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Corona crisis Swiss turns Federal Council assessment situation
