SWISS Cancels 1,400 Summer Flights Due To Pilot Shortage

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is cancelling 1,400 flights this summer due to a shortage of pilots. This content was published on May 16, 2025 - 14:35 2 minutes Keystone-SDA

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According to the Lufthansa subsidiary, this has been caused by a number of unexpected developments and overly optimistic deployment planning.

The cancelations will affect long-haul flights – for example to Chicago, where services will be halved in September and October – and various short and medium-haul services.

A SWISS spokesperson confirmed the decision to the AWP news agency on Friday following an enquiry by the trade magazine Aerotelegraph.

The cancelled flights correspond to 1.5% of the total volume of SWISS flights between April and October.

According to the report, the shortages in cockpit personnel are due to an unusually high number of long-term absences, including pregnancies and accidents. The ongoing retraining of crews for the new Airbus A350 is also tying up capacity.

In addition, a new collective labour agreement with improved working time regulations has increased the need for staff by around 70 full-time positions.

More More SWISS pilots approve new collective labour agreement

This content was published on Jan 13, 2023 Pilots working for Swiss International Air Lines have agreed to a new collective labour accord finalised between their union and SWISS management.

Read more: SWISS pilots approve new collective labour agreemen

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