Swiss International Air Lines and SR Technics Switzerland have reached an out-of-court settlement in their dispute…
Swiss International Air Lines and SR Technics Switzerland have reached an out-of-court settlement in their dispute over the interpretation of their maintenance contract, thus ending the arbitration process they were engaged in. Established on a new basis, their revised co-operation agreement enables SWISS to significantly reduce maintenance costs for its Airbus fleet. At the same time, the two parties have extended their current contract, which is valid until 2009, by a further three years.
In an effort to resolve conflicting interpretation of commercial aspects of their aircraft maintenance services contract, SWISS and SR Technics submitted their dispute to arbitration last October. The two companies have now reached an out-of-court agreement resolving these differences. The arbitration process has therefore been set aside.
The new agreement enables SWISS to save considerable costs for the maintenance of its Airbus fleet, which will make a significant contribution to its efforts to achieve a financial turnaround. In a related development, the two companies have also extended their contract maintenance services contract by three years.
Tim Talaat, CEO of SR Technics Switzerland, is pleased by the agreement with SWISS: With this solution we have established a firm basis for a long-term partnership that will benefit both companies. We are proud that our services will continue to contribute to the success of our biggest customer and national airline. In this way our two companies help to secure the future of air transport in Switzerland.
Manfred Brennwald, Chief Operations Officer at SWISS, commented: Thanks to this negotiated outcome, SWISS will achieve sustainable savings in the maintenance of its Airbus fleet for the duration of the contract. This will generate a significant contribution to our turnaround. At the same time we can continue to rely on the renowned high quality maintenance provided by SR Technics. This raises the working relationship of the two companies to a new level, which is positive for both enterprises and also for Switzerland as an air transport location.
SR Technics is responsible for the technical safety and reliability, data management and maintenance of the SWISS Airbus fleet, which currently consists of 25 aircraft from the Airbus A320 series and nine Airbus A330 and nine A340 aircraft. SR Technics will basically continue to perform maintenance services on these aircraft as it has in the past. SWISS will continue to maintain its regional fleet itself.
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