SWISS cancels 1,400 summer flights due to pilot shortage

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is cancelling 1,400 flights this summer due to a shortage of pilots. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox 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 ...