RE: EUROCELTIC

BMI’s CEO is Sir Michael Bishop.

RE: CDG-A huge dissappointment!

It’s ages since I’ve been at Terminal 1 at CDG, so I can’t really comment.

Terminal 2A seemed a bit cramped to me, but 2F is very airy, lots of glass, not bad shopping.

As to the All Day Deli. No. Don’t like it, and no one I’ve talked to has, either. And I’ve taken it up with a lot of BA f/a’s, and they say they don’t like it, and they haven’t heard any pax commend it, either.

RE: Swissair-who comes next?

I got this mail from Qualiflyer Frequent flyer:

From:
To:
Subject: Swissair Update 5.10.2001
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 05:01:26 +0200

Dear Customer

Swissair has resumed flying following the temporary suspension of
operations on October 2 and 3.

We truly appreciate your ongoing loyalty to our products and services.
Now that we are operating some of our flights again, we hope to welcome
you aboard a Swissair flight soon.

We apologise in all sincerity for any inconvenience you were caused by
these developments. And we can assure you that we are doing everything
in our power to return our services to the levels you both expect and
deserve as soon as possible.

Enclosed you’ll find a summary of the latest information as well as
links to corresponding topics where you can find more details on the
matter of particular interest to you.

Yours sincerely

Swissair

Please note that all of this information is subject to change.
Please do not reply to this message.

Current flight information
Information on current flight operations can be found below.
http://www.swissair-od.ch/info/Passenger.htm

Current arrival/departure times
http://www.swissair.com/SRADIStart.nav

Booking
Here’s the direct link to our website booking engine:
http://www.swissair.com/booking/index.htm

Our partner Crossair is operating normally. Click on the website links
for Crossair booking.
http://www.crossair.com/en/onlinebooking/fares_booking/index.php

Important telephone numbers
Call the number below for Swissair travel information and booking.

In Switzerland
Economy Class: 0848 800 700
Business Class: 0848 800 600
First Class: 0848 800 500

Crossair information and booking: 0848 85 2000

Customers outside of Switzerland should call their local reservations
office or +44 845 601 0956.

Qualiflyer frequent flyer program information
For the most up-to-date information regarding the Qualiflyer frequent
flyer programme, visit http://www.qualiflyer.com

Key points
– Qualiflyer Memberships continue
– Qualiflyer mileage accounts are unaffected, miles remain valid
> according to the terms and conditions of the Qualiflyer programme.
– Qualiflyer Miles can be collected as usual on all flights of
participating airlines operating, credit card companies, hotel chains,
car rental companies and other mileage collection partners.
– Qualiflyer Miles can be spent as usual on all flights of participating
airlines operating and according to allocated capacities for mileage
spending.
– Availability of some non-air awards may be temporarily restricted.

Questions and Answers
We understand that the need for information is particularly great at
this time. Consult our set of Questions & Answers for the information
you require.

Swissair:
http://www.swissair-od.ch/info/Q&A%20Passenger.htm#English

Crossair:
http://www.crossair.com/en/flugplan/FAQ/index.html

Qualiflyer frequent flyer programme:
http://www.qualiflyer.com/qualiflyerguide/press.htm

Press Releases
We are keeping the media informed of all the news as it develops.
Click on the link below to view our current press releases.
http://srapps.swissair.com/srpress/news.po

Information overview
For a user-friendly overview of the links mentioned above, click on
this main link
http://www.swissair-od.ch/info/customer.htm

General information on Swissair and Crossair.
http://www.swissair.com
http://www.crossair.com

RE: Russian plane down!

…and the USS Vinncennes’ shooting down of an Iranian Airbus A300 over the gulf in 1988.

RE: Swissair broke!

BBC online Business news:

Summary/Time line:
Swissair in crisis
2000
July – Swissair denies it is in financial trouble

2001

Jan – Abandons policy of buying up foreign airlines
March – New chief executive Mario Corti
April – Swissair posts huge loss, begins restructuring
June – Air Liberte goes bankrupt, Air Littoral sold
July – Swissair agrees Sabena restructuring
Sept – Swissair to merge with Crossair
Oct – Flight operations terminated

Ailing carrier Swissair has run out of cash and suspended all its flights indefinitely. In the hours before the shut-down, some of its planes had been impounded while fuel suppliers refused to deliver.

Swissair aeroplanes at foreign airports will be recalled to Switzerland as soon as possible, and stranded passengers have been urged to make other arrangements.

The company said it was not in a position to pay stranded passengers any compensation. Unions warn that up to 10,000 jobs could be lost.

The grounding of the Swissair fleet is the culmination of a long, drawn-out financial crisis, brought on by an ambitious but ultimately disastrous expansion programme.

Trading in Swissair’s shares remains suspended, but even before the termination of flights analysts at investment bank Merrill Lynch said the shares were now “effectively… worthless”.

Rescue attempt fails

The Swissair collapse now threatens a rescue deal, which would have seen its subsidiary Crossair take on the lead role in the troubled group, by acquiring two-thirds of what was left ot Swissair’s operations..

But regional carrier Crossair has now warned that pulling off the deal had become “more difficult” now.

Swissair had hoped to relaunch most of its services as normal on Tuesday, after agreeing a partial rescue bid by two banks, and filing for protection from total bankruptcy.

But it was immediately hit by a series of blows, including the seizure of two of its aircraft at London’s Heathrow airport, and the refusal of fuel companies to supply its operations in Zurich.

At the same time, the Belgian government said it was considering legal action over Swissair’s refusal to commit funds to Sabena, the airline in which it holds a 49.5% stake.

The Sabena board is due to meet later on Tuesday in order to discuss ways to keep Belgium’s troubled carrier going, which could include voluntary bankruptcy.

Hopes hit

Swissair had suspended its flights on Tuesday morning, in the hope of being able to restart operations later in the afternoon.

But the airline failed to find the money to pay for its immediate needs like jet fuel to keep its aeroplanes flying.

Earlier, a spokeswoman had admitted that there were “some problems” associated with the rescue deal.

Although the firm’s bankers had promised immediate cash assistance, it appears that the money was not paid, causing a cash crunch.

The petroleum firm BP said it had stopped providing fuel to Swissair, and was followed by other suppliers at the airline’s Zurich hub.

In London, Swissair reportedly owes airport operator BAA about £300,000 in landing fees, which led to the seizure of two of its jets at Heathrow.

Other Swissair services from London were disrupted ahead of the full suspension.

One of the aircraft has been released, while the other unit will remain impounded pending further discussions over payments with the carrier, BAA said in a statement.

Belgian worries

Even before the suspension, flights to Brussels were not operating, having been cancelled for “security reasons”, after Swissair was unable to pay its portion of a rescue plan for Belgian airline Sabena.

Swissair was due to provide 60% of the bailout funds for Sabena, which were jointly agreed with the Belgian government.

But Swissair’s decision to seek protection from creditors – part of the deal hammered out over the weekend – meant that it effectively defaulted on its Sabena obligations.

‘Flagrant violation’

The Belgian government, which called the decision a “flagrant violation” of the agreements, has said it may take Swissair to court. Sabena itself may follow suit.

The future of Sabena is now in doubt, with some Belgian analysts saying the country’s flag carrier may have to file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks.

The company’s board is meeting on Tuesday evening in the hope of hammering out a rescue plan.

Sabena grounded more than one-quarter of its flights on 1 October as a pilots’ strike went into a fourth day in protest against plans to restructure the ailing Belgian airline.

The Belgian Cockpit Association, which represents 900 staff at Sabena said it will resume strike action unless the chief executive resigns and the airline abandons plans to cut 2,000 out of 12,000 jobs.

The failed rescue package

Swissair’s had hoped to save itself by getting rid of 24 aircraft, and reorganising schedules for the remaining 52 planes under its European regional arm Crossair.

The non-flight operations would have sought bankruptcy protection, jeopardising thousands of jobs in catering, airport retailing and ground services.

Swissair chairman and chief executive Mario Corti emerged from emergency talks on 1 October to say the airline would sell the 70% stake it currently holds in Crossair to Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse.

The banks’ offer had been worth 1.36bn Swiss francs (£569m; $840m)

Mr Corti had blamed the suicide airliner attacks in the US on 11 September for causing billions of Swiss francs in costs for the cash-strapped group.

But the company was already struggling under a mountain of debt caused by a failed expansion strategy, before the US tragedy.

RE: Sabena : end of days

got this from Yahoo.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swissair Group said several of its planes had been impounded at European airports the day after two top Swiss banks salvaged the brand and most of the airline business from the troubled group but left its mountain of debt behind.

“It’s not true that we’re not flying anymore. We have problems with a few flights,” a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

The group confirmed two of its planes had been impounded in London. “We have other planes that have been blocked in other countries in Europe,” another spokesman said. He declined to say how many planes were affected, but said there were “several”.

The spokesman declined to comment on Swissair’s flight plans for the rest of the day. “At the moment we still have no decision about our operations” for the rest of Tuesday, he said.

While the struggling group put a brave face on its dramatic fall from grace, legal clouds gathered over its future as more Swissair planes risked being impounded by angry creditors. Suppliers could be reluctant to deliver fuel, change tyres or unload planes without advance payment, experts said.

A spokesman for Exxon in Britain, which runs the fuel pool for Swissair planes in Zurich, declined to comment.

Banks UBS and Credit Suisse on Monday salvaged the bulk of Swissair’s airline operations and will combine them with regional carrier Crossair after taking over Swissair Group’s 70 percent stake in the smaller airline as part of a 1.4 billion Swiss franc (538 million pounds) rescue operation.

But the rest of Swissair Group was left to file for creditor protection, and thousands of jobs will be lost in the debt-laden and loss-making group’s collapse following the September 11 airliner attacks in the United States that have caused a sharp drop in global air traffic.

Afraid for its planes, Swissair halted flights to Brussels on Tuesday out of fears of a repeat action by employees at Sabena, which earlier this year grounded one of the company’s jets in an attempt to force Swissair to pay up as 49.5 percent shareholder in the Belgian airline for its own rescue plan.

Swissair Group Chairman Mario Corti told Belgium’s Prime Minister on Monday that fresh cash due for Sabena would not be paid. That could spell the end for Sabena, which Swissair jointly owns with the Belgium government.

Brussels responded immediately, threatening legal action against Swissair and possibly UBS and Credit Suisse.

“Special attention will now go to legal action that will have to be undertaken against Swissair, Crossair, and possibly the banks, which are a part of this whole situation,” Belgian Public Enterprises Minister Rik Daems told reporters.

Swissair Group also suspended payments to charter group LTU in Germany, and will not honour outstanding obligations to former partners Air Littoral and Air Liberte in France.

A SHRUNKEN FLAG-CARRIER

Helped by the banks’s cash infusion, Basel-based Crossair is designed to become the nation’s new, more nimble, flag carrier.

But thousands of Swissair employees, once proud to be working at the Alpine nation’s most visible economic symbols around the world, could be laid off within days.

“It will be very quick,” a spokesman said.

The application for creditor protection for parts of the group was to be submitted to a Swiss court later on Tuesday.

Swissair had been pushed close to the brink by a collapse in air travel in the wake of the September 11 attacks with hijacked aircraft in the United States. The group had already struggled with huge debts and record losses, incurred largely by a failed foreign expansion strategy over recent years.

Swissair Group had a record loss of 2.9 billion Swiss francs last year and its debts were last reported to stand at around 17 billion Swiss francs, against wafer-thin shareholders funds of a mere 555 million.

“New Crossair” Chief Executive Andre Dose said the combined fleet would be cut by 24 aircraft, or about a sixth, but the internationally strong Swissair brand would continue to exist and would likely be used on the group’s remaining intercontinental routes.

The name would be used next to the brand of Crossair, founded in 1979 by ex-Swissair pilot Moritz Suter, now chairman of the board.

A spokeswoman for Kuoni, Switzerland’s biggest travel group, said the company was at the moment keeping a neutral stance and said it was up to clients whether they wanted to fly Swissair.

Swissair and Crossair shares remained suspended through Tuesday. “We believe Swissair Group shares effectively look worthless,” U.S. investment house Merrill Lynch said in a research note released on Tuesday.

Swissair Group’s abrupt fall from the country’s corporate elite is set to be felt throughout the small nation’s economy.

Zurich’s Unique airport, the country’s busiest hub, said on Tuesday the troubles at Swissair are set to hurt its business in the short- and medium term but insisted that its existence should not be endangered.

RE: Airbus

you mean Shorts?