Editing Swissair (section)

===Grounding===
On 1 October 2001, Project "Phoenix" was announced, under which parts of the group sought a payment delay. The Swiss federal authorities were willing to pay back half of the loan, so they secured the continuation of service.

2 October 2001 saw an increased necessity for strong liquidity, as all suppliers insisted on cash payments of outstanding invoices following a request for payment delay announced the day before. The company's cash reserves filed on that day were barely sufficient to carry out the first morning flights. During the morning, fuel suppliers refused to fuel the waiting aircraft. At 15:45 [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]], CEO Mario Corti announced a cessation of flight operations due to the security risks caused by the crossing of the Flight Duty Regulations.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 October 2001 |title=Swissair jets grounded as cash runs out |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/BUSINESS/10/02/swissair/ |work= |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref>{{clarify|date=May 2023}} This led to the cancellation of over 230 flights, and thousands of passengers, as well as flight crews, were stranded around the world. Flight crew corporate credit cards were blocked by the banks, with some hotels expelling the crew, and having them return home at their own expense. All tickets sold were voided.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Milner |first1=Mark |last2=Harper |first2=Keith |last3=Clark |first3=Andrew |date=2001-10-03 |title=Financial crisis grounds Swissair fleet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/oct/03/theairlineindustry.internationalnews |access-date=2024-04-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2001-10-02 |title=Crossair to fly the flag as Swissair gives up the struggle |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/banking-fintech/crossair-to-fly-the-flag-as-swissair-gives-up-the-struggle/2282548 |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=swissinfo.ch |publisher=[[Swiss Broadcasting Corporation]] |language=en-GB}}</ref><!--Crossair shares were only reissued on the evening of 2 October due to the rewriting of Crossair shares, with their purchase price not arriving until the following day – the setting of flight operations – into the SAirLines account.-->

4 October 2001 saw demonstrations by former Swissair employees before the UBS presentation held in Glattbrugg, and the following day saw demonstrations in [[Bern]]'s Federal Square.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

At around the same time, SAirGroup's stake in Crossair was sold to the Swiss banks [[UBS]] and [[Credit Suisse]]. Furthermore, Crossair took over various assets of former Swissair, including its employees, aircraft, and most European routes. Swissair and the SAirGroup were handed over to the liquidation firm of Jürg Hoss and ceased operations on 31 March 2002. Crossair was renamed [[Swiss International Air Lines]], or Swiss for short, and took over Swissair's intercontinental routes on 1 April 2002, officially ending 71 years of Swissair service.

==== Controversy surrounding Corti's decision to ground flights ====
An investigation by the Zurich branch of [[Ernst & Young]] into factors behind the grounding revealed that <blockquote>"...in contradiction to representations made by SAir Group, not just 14.5 million Swiss Francs, but around CHF50 million were available at the company's disposal on the morning of October 2, 2001".<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |url=https://www.liquidator-swissair.ch/fileadmin/_migrated/content_uploads/untersuchung1_e.PDF |title=RESULTS OF ERNST & YOUNG'S INVESTIGATION REGARDING SWISSAIR: Appendix 1 to the press release |date=January 25, 2003 |publisher=Ernst & Young |year=2003 |location=Zürich |pages=4}}</ref></blockquote> The report further stated that <blockquote>"Without the administrative inadequacies connected with the release of an [[Escrow|escrow account]], an additional CHF 73 million would have been available. Thus, overall, some CHF 123 million would have been available at SAirGroup, SAirLines, and Swissair."<ref name=":3" /></blockquote> Former Crossair executive André Dosé, who also served as the first CEO of successor airline [[Swiss International Air Lines]], stated in 2004 that this meant the grounding was not necessary and that Swissair could have likely continued flying until the financing for a successor airline would have been finalized,<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=André Dosé: Mario Corti, die Banken und das Grounding |url=https://www.handelszeitung.ch/unternehmen/andre-dose-mario-corti-die-banken-und-das-grounding |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=Handelszeitung |language=de-CH}}</ref> a view he reiterated in a 2021 interview.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-02 |title=20 Jahre nach dem Grounding - Ex-Swiss-Chef Dosé: «Das Grounding wäre gar nie nötig gewesen» |url=https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/20-jahre-nach-dem-grounding-ex-swiss-chef-dose-das-grounding-waere-gar-nie-noetig-gewesen |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) |language=de}}</ref> In his 2004 statement, Dose voiced the view that Corti and then-CFO Jacqualyn Fouse had lost oversight of Swissair's finances, accounting for this mismatch in perception of available funds.<ref name=":4" />

Mario Corti vehemently rejected the notion that Swissair and SAirGroup bank accounts together held more than 14 million Swiss francs in a public statement after the Ernst & Young report came out.<ref>{{Cite web |last=swissinfo.ch |first=S. W. I. |date=2003-01-24 |title=Swissair grounding could have been avoided |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/banking-fintech/swissair-grounding-could-have-been-avoided/3129472 |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en-GB}}</ref>