Crossair
Mar 13th, 2002, 04:23 PM
#1
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Crossair
Has anyone heard of this airline? Is it Swissair in disguise? If it is has anyone flown it since its been crossair? I'm trying to book my flights from Boston to Rome and I've come accross some good prices on this airline but hesitant to book until I get more info.
Mar 13th, 2002, 04:41 PM
#3
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I haven't followed all the recent news on this - - but when Swissair collapsed, there was some talk of Crossair become the Swiss national carrier. And I would imagine that the newly emerging (emerged?) "Swiss" may have some management that combines Crossair with Swissair folks.
Are you fiding these flights on a major booking site like orbitz, travelocity, expedia etc? I think they have toll-free telephone support - - and there you might be able to get details about contacting the airline (or specifically, detrmining if they are a code-share or actually operating the flight).
This is not really the "more info" you are seeking - - but maybe it will help you make your way to get it.
Best wishes,
Rex
Are you fiding these flights on a major booking site like orbitz, travelocity, expedia etc? I think they have toll-free telephone support - - and there you might be able to get details about contacting the airline (or specifically, detrmining if they are a code-share or actually operating the flight).
This is not really the "more info" you are seeking - - but maybe it will help you make your way to get it.
Best wishes,
Rex
Mar 13th, 2002, 11:44 PM
#4
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Dorothy: Crossair used to be the second Swiss airline mainly flying within Europe. Very good reputation, until some crashes occured.
But Crossair will disappear. Some staff will be taken over by Swiss as per April 1.
Right now, big troubles and discussions, because Swiss intends to pay former Crossair pilots less than former Swissair pilots. Maybe, they will go on strike. We'll see.
But Crossair will disappear. Some staff will be taken over by Swiss as per April 1.
Right now, big troubles and discussions, because Swiss intends to pay former Crossair pilots less than former Swissair pilots. Maybe, they will go on strike. We'll see.
Mar 14th, 2002, 02:43 AM
#6
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No fears:
1. Crossair was a daughter company of the SAir Group.
2. It is replacing the defunct Swissair and, in principle, ir will start flying soon under the trade swiss.
3. There are some internal problems to solve (e.g. pilot salarys)
4. Under no circumstance I can imagine a strike (for many reasons).
Resuming: You guys should not worry about the safety, neither strikes (these, actually, never happen in this country ;-)
1. Crossair was a daughter company of the SAir Group.
2. It is replacing the defunct Swissair and, in principle, ir will start flying soon under the trade swiss.
3. There are some internal problems to solve (e.g. pilot salarys)
4. Under no circumstance I can imagine a strike (for many reasons).
Resuming: You guys should not worry about the safety, neither strikes (these, actually, never happen in this country ;-)
Mar 14th, 2002, 03:14 AM
#7
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Sergio: You seem very confident re strikes and I basically agree with you. But everything has a "first time". I know that the former Crossair staff is really upset and I do fully understand them. There is no reason they should be paid less.
Let's hope things will turn out well.
Let's hope things will turn out well.
Mar 14th, 2002, 09:35 AM
#9
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Dorothy,
Last November I flew NYC-Geneva on Swissair, Geneva-Casablanca on Crossair.
I was very happy with the Crossair flight.The food was good: I requested a vegetarian meal which was very tasty. There's even a cheese course - they serve warm rolls, camembert after the meal. I found Crossair's coach seats more comfortable than Swissair's (although I didn't see much difference between Crossair coach and business seats. If you have the money, Swissair business would definitely be worth it). Also Crossair doesn't have the individual tv monitors on the back of each seat(with handheld remote) that Swissair does.
Aside from fears of strikes or bankruptcies, I think Crossair would be a goood choice.
p.s. The reason I was flying on Swissair is that Sabena with whom I'd originally booked went bankrupt and stopped flying the day of my trip. I had to pay for my tickets all over again, but eventually, through my credit card company, was not obligated to pay for the first set of tickets.
Good luck!
Last November I flew NYC-Geneva on Swissair, Geneva-Casablanca on Crossair.
I was very happy with the Crossair flight.The food was good: I requested a vegetarian meal which was very tasty. There's even a cheese course - they serve warm rolls, camembert after the meal. I found Crossair's coach seats more comfortable than Swissair's (although I didn't see much difference between Crossair coach and business seats. If you have the money, Swissair business would definitely be worth it). Also Crossair doesn't have the individual tv monitors on the back of each seat(with handheld remote) that Swissair does.
Aside from fears of strikes or bankruptcies, I think Crossair would be a goood choice.
p.s. The reason I was flying on Swissair is that Sabena with whom I'd originally booked went bankrupt and stopped flying the day of my trip. I had to pay for my tickets all over again, but eventually, through my credit card company, was not obligated to pay for the first set of tickets.
Good luck!
Mar 14th, 2002, 09:49 AM
#10
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I'm so glad to see this subject on this board! Just this week I booked a flight to Milan for September based on: 1) good fares (through a travel agent, actually) and 2) my friend's boss/family recommendation (they fly them frequently for business and leisure). They said that they found them reliable, punctual and very service oriented. Of course, there are no guarantees, but at the suggestion of my travel agent I paid for these tickets with my Amex just in case. As a previous poster mentions, Amex confirmed to me that if there should be any difficulties (like with Swissair last year) that I would not be obligated to pay for them. I'll certainly be paying attention to anything I hear from now on and hope that they are able to resolve any potential strikes.
Mar 14th, 2002, 10:05 AM
#12
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Some more comments:
Crossair was founded in 1975 as a business flying operation by a former Swissair captain. It was transformed into Switzerland's second airline during the 80s and was a very successful regional carrier, which was taken over by Swissair in the early 90s. Swissair/Crossair cooperated as mainline (SR) / regional (LX) partners. Swissair had a hub at Zurich, Crossair a smaller European hub at Basel/Mulhouse.
When the collapse of Swissair became imminent (a thing many people over here were seeing to come about, but nobody wanted to believe), the two major Swiss banks bought Crossair from Swissair's holding company.
Following cash injection from major Swiss businesses and the state, Crossair will take over Swissair's operations as of March 31, 2002.
The company will be doing business as "Swiss" and is scheduled to be renamed Swiss Air Lines Ltd later this year. The CEO, COO and most upper management will be former Crossair people. There are disputes about the treatment of pilots formerly employed by Crossair, and there is a strike threat by these pilots. I think, however, that the risk of a strike is relatively small, as the stakes are too high to risk a diaster on the first days of summer timetable (I hope the little guys from Crossair will get through).
As La Reveuse said, service aboard Crossair was excellent (including the cheese course and Swiss chocolate before touchdown), and I do not think this will change. Remember that Crossair was a regional airline, using small planes seating 34 to 120 people, so the seats in economy and business classes were the same (albeit upholstered in leather) and there was no on-board entertainment.
As of March 31, all Swissair and Crossair flights will be operated by Swiss, and all flight numbers will run under Crossair's designator (LX). This is the reason for Rex's astonishment about Crossair offering transatlantic services: They essentially will be Swissair flights under a new designator.
Enjoy your travelling
Phil.
Crossair was founded in 1975 as a business flying operation by a former Swissair captain. It was transformed into Switzerland's second airline during the 80s and was a very successful regional carrier, which was taken over by Swissair in the early 90s. Swissair/Crossair cooperated as mainline (SR) / regional (LX) partners. Swissair had a hub at Zurich, Crossair a smaller European hub at Basel/Mulhouse.
When the collapse of Swissair became imminent (a thing many people over here were seeing to come about, but nobody wanted to believe), the two major Swiss banks bought Crossair from Swissair's holding company.
Following cash injection from major Swiss businesses and the state, Crossair will take over Swissair's operations as of March 31, 2002.
The company will be doing business as "Swiss" and is scheduled to be renamed Swiss Air Lines Ltd later this year. The CEO, COO and most upper management will be former Crossair people. There are disputes about the treatment of pilots formerly employed by Crossair, and there is a strike threat by these pilots. I think, however, that the risk of a strike is relatively small, as the stakes are too high to risk a diaster on the first days of summer timetable (I hope the little guys from Crossair will get through).
As La Reveuse said, service aboard Crossair was excellent (including the cheese course and Swiss chocolate before touchdown), and I do not think this will change. Remember that Crossair was a regional airline, using small planes seating 34 to 120 people, so the seats in economy and business classes were the same (albeit upholstered in leather) and there was no on-board entertainment.
As of March 31, all Swissair and Crossair flights will be operated by Swiss, and all flight numbers will run under Crossair's designator (LX). This is the reason for Rex's astonishment about Crossair offering transatlantic services: They essentially will be Swissair flights under a new designator.
Enjoy your travelling
Phil.
Apr 10th, 2002, 09:46 PM
#15
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I booked a Swissair business flight through Delta with my international flight in '98 and ended up on Crossair between Zurich and Munich. The seats were exactly like coach, except they charged me business class rates. We didn't get any better service, in fact, we were offered the same breakfast roll everyone else got. I complained and received nothing from Swissair, but did receive a voucher from Delta for my disappointment. At that time, Crossair flew some domestic flights for Swissair. In recent years I believe they have had 2 crashes. One was the jumbolino that they put us on. Everyone was making fun of it as we lined up to board, but everyone got on, so we did too. I think it had a flying pig as the logo. I certainly would not fly business class on Crossair again unless there have been a lot of changes.
Apr 11th, 2002, 12:53 PM
#16
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Phil: Thank you for what sounds like the clearest explanation so far.I have tickets Montreal-Zurich Zurich-Rome
I was led to believe by my travel agent that they are taking over Swissair flights. As well they were by far the cheapest. Lets hope for the best.
Judy
I was led to believe by my travel agent that they are taking over Swissair flights. As well they were by far the cheapest. Lets hope for the best.
Judy
