San Gottardo

Thanks for sharing that document brunos. I read it (on a train...), and literally my chin fell down, by bewilderment, by amazement. I just don't know where to start. So they strike for higher salaries because they think the company pays too much in taxes and social charges? So they think that the only reason for the company's mediocre performance is taxes/charges, and not for instance lower earnings power than competitors? And don't they think that any company in any industry has to manage around external constraints such as local labour costs, tax and other government-induced cost, local regulations, etc? And what about the generous tax credit that they have received for past losses (haven't checked the latest annual report to see if they still benefit from tax credits, but I wouldn't be surprised if there still was that effect)?

And the question that bugs me the most: what exactly is the mathematics that will allow them to *improve* profitability by *increasing* wages and thus personnel cost, given that tax/charges are fix? The things I learned at school (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) just don't get me there.

Fascinating, in so many different, if somewhat sick, ways.

Just the other day, someone asked me where I thought whether AF could disappear. I actually ended up saying "I hope so" - on the basis that as a France-based traveler I want a performant airline that offers me a good and reliable product. With AF, despite some very very significant improvements to their product, the story is still one where the periods of unreliability because of strikes are too frequent and the money to invest into keeping the product up to date is just missing (still many planes with NEV and no money to refurbish them, no money to put WiFi on board, etc). So in a way, I hope for a Swissair ending and Swiss-resurrection. Without the agony inbetween ;-)