Lorenz Stucki

Swissair was an early casualty of the Reaganesque crony capitalism, Swiss style. This history of Swissair tells the story from its foundation to the 1980s. Swissair's success story was curtailed by the modern four horsemen of bankers, consultants, managers and politicians. The success of Swissair was its strength in the highly profitable aviation side businesses (catering, maintenance, freight, travel agencies) while restricting itself to being a premium airline. Urged on by consultants and bankers, Swissair management pushed the company out of its niche into the volume business, becoming Europe's fifth largest airline and acquiring many low quality subsidiary airlines (such as Belgium's ailing Sabena). The free cash-flow from the side businesses could not sustain for long the management's folly. UBS and 9/11 murdered the remnants of the old Swissair, which lives on as a bowlerized Lufthansa subsidiary.

This corporate history offers a good overview what made the company great and is also a good case study of the paternalistic post WWII management style that provided "organization man" with a corporate home.… (mehr)