In view of the continuing substantial declines in airfreight volumes, Swiss WorldCargo plans to introduce short-time working for its personnel, provisionally from 1 June. A corresponding application has been submitted to the relevant authorities (the “Amt für Wirtschaft und Arbeit”) for the business unit’s Swiss-based employees. At current staffing levels, around 100 employees would be affected.

The adoption of short-time working is intended to retain jobs in the current global economic crisis, and is unavoidable if Swiss WorldCargo is to respond to the present slump in demand without major cuts in personnel terms.

The airfreight business of Swiss WorldCargo suffered a steep decline in the first quarter of 2009. Cargo load factor (by volume) for the period amounted to 66.8%, 18.4 percentage points down on its prior-year level of 85.2%. The downward trend worsened in April: cargo load factor for the month was 20.6 percentage points below the prior-year period.

Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.
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