Around 4 percent of Swiss passengers' suitcases are left behind at Zurich Airport. In an interview, Swiss sharply criticized Skyguide air traffic control and the airport management. Now they are defending themselves.
Waiting for your luggage: An above-average number of suitcases are lost at Swiss in Zurich.
Gaëtan Bally / Keystone
Thick air at Zurich Airport. Since the Corona pandemic, the quality at Switzerland's most important airport has noticeably declined. Compared to 2019, significantly more flights are delayed – even though the number of flight movements is still lower than before the pandemic. At the same time, more and more pieces of luggage are being forgotten.
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Swiss, which operates a hub for its international network in Zurich, has been heavily criticized for this for months. Now the airline is going on the offensive. In an interview with “NZZ am Sonntag”, Oliver Buchhofer, member of the Swiss management board, blames the airport management and the air traffic control company Skyguide for the unsatisfactory situation.
Zurich Airport is in control of the baggage sorting system. And Skyguide coordinates arrivals and departures in Zurich.
“We now have to find our way back to the old Swiss virtues. Reliability, dependability and consistent cooperation. Our pride also depends on that,” says Buchhofer.
Baggage system goes on strike
But now the two criticized companies are defending themselves. The airport emphasizes that it is often not the fault of the baggage system if the suitcase can no longer make it onto the plane. «There are various reasons for luggage being left behind. Too short transfer times due to delays, late check-in or disruptions to the facility, to name just a few.” The reasons could not be fully broken down.
But the fact is: it is becoming more and more common for a suitcase to be left behind. In the “NZZ am Sonntag” interview, Swiss operations manager Oliver Buchhofer gives new figures: 2.3 percent of luggage on the entire Swiss network are not included, but in Zurich it is 4 percent.
Just the weekend before last, the baggage sorting system at Zurich Airport, which is currently being replaced by Zurich Airport, failed. As a result, hundreds of suitcases piled up within a short period of time and had to be processed by Swiss staff on a night shift.
Zurich Airport writes that less than half a percent of all luggage was left behind due to the renovation of the airport's sorting machine. The conversion was an “open heart operation”. Overall, they are very satisfied with the project.
Domino effect in the sky
As far as the delays are concerned, Swiss' criticism is primarily directed at Skyguide air traffic control, which is 100 percent state-owned. Swiss operations manager Buchhofer says there is a lack of willingness to test new ideas in order to provide relief. “It just takes the willingness to go to the limit.”
But Skyguide sees things completely differently. The company replies that, from their point of view, Zurich Airport is already at its limit. The reason for the poor numbers can be seen in the European sky. The network is at full capacity. “Delays create a domino effect with consequences for Switzerland,” writes a Skyguide spokesman.
There are also other disruptive factors. For example, other European air traffic control centers lacked a large number of air traffic controllers. And the weather is becoming increasingly unpredictable.
Skyguide emphasizes that its most important task is to ensure the safety of air traffic. They are trying to meet the demand for more capacity as much as possible. But: “We are moving in an area of tension in which commercial interests have to be weighed against security in the airspace.”
The fact is: Swiss, Skyguide and Zurich Airport are tied together. Together they ensure Switzerland's connection to the global flight network. The three companies are actually in close contact. The fact that Swiss is now daring to go public and criticize shows how great the airline's frustration must be.
But how do Skyguide and the airport actually see their collaboration with Swiss? Skyguide is conciliatory: “Basically, all airport partners want the same thing.” The collaboration works very well. Rather, they are lengthy political processes that prevent short-term solutions.
Zurich Airport is more distant. He maintains a “regular and respectful” exchange with Swiss.
As a passenger, you can only wish that the three of them would pull together. Otherwise you can wait a long time – for your luggage and for the flight.
