Feared Attacks By Legal Investigation
The airline Swiss
suffered a setback in its attempts to fly out of financial trouble
when chief executive Andre Dose announced he was resigning from the
post. Dose said in a statement he was standing down because he was
likely to be targeted by a legal probe into the crash of a Crossair
airliner near Zurich in November 2001, in which 24 people were
killed. The outgoing head of Swiss was at the helm of the regional
airline Crossair at the time of the accident. Swiss announced in a
statement that chairman Pieter Bouw would take over the chief
executive's role on a temporary basis with immediate effect.
Dose's departure comes less than two weeks before the company is
due to present its full 2003 financial results and its outlook for
2004. The airline cut its losses by a third last year to 687
million Swiss francs (420 million euros, $525 million) from a loss
of 980 million francs in 2002, according to interim results
announced last month. But it is still struggling to pull out of
financial trouble after it slashed one-third of its staff and
one-third of its fleet last year as global air travel slumped.
The restructuring plan was largely shepherded through by Dose,
who has headed Swiss since the decision was made to set up the
airline by merging Crossair with the remnants of bankrupt national
carrier Swissair in late 2001. Dose said in a statement that
Swiss's board had advised him that the probe into the accident at
Bassersdorf "would weigh on me in a way that would make the pursuit
of my activities as chief executive of Swiss impossible".
Switzerland's federal prosecutor opened a judicial inquiry into
possible manslaughter last month after the official investigation
by aviation authorities blamed the crash on a combination of pilot
error, failings at Crossair, as well as with aviation authorities.
Although the board had suggested that it only suspend his term for
the duration of the legal inquiry, Dose said he had preferred to
leave the job altogether.
"Since Swiss is in the middle of a turnaround, I could not
accept the responsibility of leaving my task as head of the group
for an indeterminate period of time," Dose said. "With due
consideration to Swiss and its 6,000 employees, I have made my post
available to the board, and agreed to terminate my contract in
keeping with the accepted conditions," he added in the
statement.
Dose said he had agreed to stay on as an adviser at the request
of the board to help follow through with the ailing airline's
restructuring plan.
"I am still convinced that Swiss will succeed with its
turnaround," Dose later told Swiss television.
In a statement, Swiss's board said it respected Dose's decision,
acknowledging "his great achievement in establishing the young
airline and setting it on course towards a sound financial future".
Swiss Airline Chief Resigns Amidst Crash Probe
Feared Attacks By Legal Investigation
The airline Swiss suffered a setback in its attempts to fly out
of financial trouble when chief executive Andre Dose announced he
was resigning from the post. Dose said in a statement he was
standing down because he was likely to be targeted by a legal probe
into the crash of a Crossair airliner near Zurich in November 2001,
in which 24 people were killed. The outgoing head of Swiss was at
the helm of the regional airline Crossair at the time of the
accident. Swiss announced in a statement that chairman Pieter Bouw
would take over the chief executive's role on a temporary basis
with immediate effect.
Dose's departure comes less than two weeks before the company is
due to present its full 2003 financial results and its outlook for
2004. The airline cut its losses by a third last year to 687
million Swiss francs (420 million euros, 525 million dollars) from
a loss of 980 million francs in 2002, according to interim results
announced last month. But it is still struggling to pull out of
financial trouble after it slashed one-third of its staff and
one-third of its fleet last year as global air travel slumped.
The restructuring plan was largely shepherded through by Dose,
who has headed Swiss since the decision was made to set up the
airline by merging Crossair with the remnants of bankrupt national
carrier Swissair in late 2001. Dose said in a statement that
Swiss's board had advised him that the probe into the accident at
Bassersdorf "would weigh on me in a way that would make the pursuit
of my activities as chief executive of Swiss impossible".
Switzerland's federal prosecutor opened a judicial inquiry into
possible manslaughter last month after the official investigation
by aviation authorities blamed the crash on a combination of pilot
error, failings at Crossair, as well as with aviation authorities.
Although the board had suggested that it only suspend his term for
the duration of the legal inquiry, Dose said he had preferred to
leave the job altogether.
"Since Swiss is in the
middle of a turnaround, I could not accept the responsibility of
leaving my task as head of the group for an indeterminate period of
time," Dose said. "With due consideration to Swiss and its 6,000
employees, I have made my post available to the board, and agreed
to terminate my contract in keeping with the accepted conditions,"
he added in the statement.
Dose said he had agreed to stay on as an adviser at the request
of the board to help follow through with the ailing airline's
restructuring plan. "I am still convinced that Swiss will succeed
with its turnaround," Dose later told Swiss television.
Although magistrates have not explicitly stated that Dose was
being targeted in their probe, several newspapers in Switzerland
have raised the prospect.
In a statement, Swiss's board said it respected Dose's decision,
acknowledging "his great achievement in establishing the young
airline and setting it on course towards a sound financial future
The board condemns the imputations, personal attacks and
prejudgment from certain circles to which Andre Dose has been
exposed in the last few days and weeks," the airline's statement
said.