Grounding: The Last Days of Swissair (Grounding: Die letzten Tage der Swissair)

THIS FILM IS AN INTERPRETATION OF THE LAST DAYS OF SWISSAIR.

ALL ACTORS USING REAL NAMES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED TO BE FICTIONAL.

Europe is giving us a chance, it's up to us to seize it.

All other characters are works of fiction.

If we know our worth and we accept Europe's challenge,

in the spirit of performance, risk taking, and innovation,

Europe will help us to move forward. The question is: can we do it?

December 6, 1992,

the Swiss people rejected Switzerland becoming a member

of the European Economic Area.

We do not want the EEA. We, the Swiss people, are strong enough

to make our own decisions.

Swissair is the only airline

in Europe that makes a profit.

-The EEA isn't in effect yet. -No, it isn't,

but we can't feel sorry for ourselves!

If we go it alone, quote unquote,

staying separate will become harder and harder.

Others are free to apply whatever tariffs they want,

and Swissair has to just accept their tariffs.

There are some difficulties...

It's not a matter of survival!

At the beginning of 1993

the heads of Swissair, Austrian Airlines,

the Scandinavian SAS, and the Dutch KLM

created an ambitious project:

Alcazar, an alliance of small companies against the big.

This merger created one of the largest airlines in Europe,

giving them a chance at surviving.

-We're negotiating. -It's a good match.

As soon as their intentions were made public,

Moritz Suter, founder of Crossair,

submitted a competing project to the Federal Council: Phoenix.

He recommended that Swissair be taken over by Crossair.

This is why the Federal Council invites Swissair

to find a different solution from the Alcazar project

which would ensure the company's independence.

Can you confirm that negotiations are still going on?

I told you, I have no other comments.

OTTO LOEPFE SWISSAIR BOSS

We deeply regret negotiations having ceased.

There has never been

and will never be a question of going it alone without partners.

May 4, 1994,

Swissair decides on an aggressive acquisition strategy.

The Belgian airline Sabena opens them up to Europe,

and Delta, their American partner, to the world.

This strategy was based on a study by consulting firm McKinsey,

lead at the time by Lukas Mühlemann.

He was said to be the man who restarted the Swiss economy.

One year later, Mühlemann, then director of Credit Suisse,

was appointed to Swissair's board of directors.

The McKinsey study became the company's doctrine,

and its managers decided to entrust it to an unknown party.

In 1997,

Philippe Bruggisser became the new director of Swissair.

What's the secret to success?

Luck...

Being in the right place at the right time...

And maybe knowledge.

With negative profits for the airline we have to do all we can

to get out of red and into the black.

January 19, 1998,

Bruggisser presents the board of Swissair

with a strategy based on aggressive acquisition

bearing the name "Hunter".

With the blessing of the board,

he got to work.

In a record time,

he bought shares in many small airlines.

Most of them were experiencing financial trouble.

They expected knowledge from Swissair,

and, above all, money.

But their American partners weren't convinced by Hunter.

October 13, 1999,

Delta ends their partnership with Swissair.

This explains Philippe Bruggisser's worried look,

director of SAirGroup, the abandoned partner.

Will you end up alone?

We hope not.

Bruggisser tried to build new alliances.

We're going to buy American Airlines.

But he had no more money.

I'm not kidding.

As always, competition is tough and it's not getting any better...

Despite everything, Bruggisser and his team stayed the course.

We've grown so fast!

-We believe we have grown. -We will continue to develop.

The best-managed airline in the world.

No.1, before all others, is Swissair.

And I think in five years, Swissair will still be here.

GROUNDING

A FILM BY MICHAEL STEINER AND TOBIAS FUETER

Swissair's stock prices

fell sharply after criticism of the group's status

from a Credit Suisse analyst appeared in the press.

He said that Swissair's losses in air transport

could reach up to one billion francs.

One important detail: Credit Suisse and SAirGroup are connected.

At the end of last week, the head of Credit Suisse

apologized to Philippe Bruggisser.

It seems it wasn't enough.

The analyst from Credit Suisse was fired.

I had no choice.

They told me to sign my resignation and go.

Credit Suisse refused to comment on the matter.

Anyone owning shares in Swissair

lost over 40% of their investment

in the last few years.

Philippe Bruggisser, head of the group,

fought to stop the falling stock prices,

assuring people that there was no sign of a financial crisis

or management issues.

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Susanne Gasser,

your chief flight attendant.

The captain and the crew

would like to welcome you aboard this flight to Bangkok.

Our flight will last 11 hours and eight minutes.

Enjoy your flight.

The departure of Philippe Bruggisser, SAirGroup's CEO,

had already been bandied around.

But on that day he had a surprise in store.

SAirGroup admitted that their strategy so far

had failed.

SAirGroup hasn't just been an airline for a long time.

It's a holding company for various activities.

It rests on two pillars.

On the one side, air transport,

which includes Swissair,

and shares in overseas companies.

On the other side, companies related to air travel:

SAirServices, SAirLogistics,

SAirRelations.

Mr. Bruggisser says it's about constant economic movement.

Each company buys from the others,

so one hand washes the other,

and vice versa.

It's a dual-edged strategy.

This system has netted them record gains for years.

Suddenly, they're billions in debt. Why?

The system is easily manipulated.

For example, the Belgian airline Sabena

was a strong player in transport.

The commercial part of Sabena was removed

and made part of SwissCargo,

and now Sabena is making a massive loss.

Each sector can be shown on a good or a bad day.

It's impossible to get an overall picture.

The only one who had an overview of this mess was Mr. Bruggisser?

From what I can see now, yes.

That said, no-one asked him questions.

Least of all you, ladies and gentlemen of the board.

With his Hunter strategy,

Mr. Bruggisser encouraged the purchase of foreign companies

that weren't doing so well so he could reactivate the system.

He should have made an alliance with KLM,

the Austrians and the Swedes.

Retrospective policy analysis is pointless now.

What Mr. Bruggisser showed us in the last few years made sense.

That's why you fired him on the spot.

Can you tell us how we can save this company?

We're listening.

Moritz Suter, director of Crossair,

became director of air travel for Swissair.

Congratulations on your promotion.

No congratulations today, please.

-Why not? -I've got a lot of work to do.

I've had a card for Balsberg for two hours now...

...that says "airline visitor" on it.

HEAD OF AIR TRAVEL SAIRGROUP

Now I can get in the door.

In 1975,

Moritz Suter, a former Swissair pilot,

founded a regional company, which would become Crossair.

This company would become one of Europe's

biggest regional airlines.

The job I have taken on is very difficult, very high-risk.

But I had to take it,

for the sake of aviation in Switzerland.

My goal is to build up Swissair and Crossair

and make them proud companies again.

Bernard! Oh my God!

What's the matter? Bernard!

-Bernard! Talk to me! -What's going on?

CPR kit.

Oh my God! Bernard!

Bernard! What is it?

-Help my husband! -Calm down.

He's going to die!

Oh my God! Bernard!

Again. Here we go.

-Still nothing. -Three, two, one...

Bernard!

Bernard!

Bernard!

Oh my God, thank you!

Bernard, say something!

Susanne.

It's over. It's OK.

He's safe. Everyone's happy.