In five pages this paper discusses Swissair in terms of its alliances with Singapore Airlines and Delta during the 1990s' as documented in Harvard case 794 152. One source is cited in the bibliography.
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more challenging. Swissair, the national airline of Switzerland, realized the benefit of the strategic alliance late in the 1980s and committed to a strategy of continuing to build such
alliances based on the worlds greatest business activity. Company History Founded in 1931, Swissair in
1990 was among one of the most successful international airlines. It was in the top 20 in international passenger kilometers flown, and in the top 10 in international passengers
carried (Vayle and Yoffie 444). It was unusual in that it was only about 20 percent government owned; the remaining 80 percent was held by private investors.
The national airlines of other nations were not under as much pressure to perform profitably as was Swissair. Because it was mostly owned by
those seeking a return on their investments, it was necessary for management to ensure that it retained the capital provided by those investors. One route chosen was that of
diversification. Swissairs subsidiaries included two charter airlines and a travel agency. In the increasingly competitive environment of international air travel, Swissair adopted
in 1989 an official policy of forming strategic alliances with other airlines. The first alliance included the Scandanavian, Austrian and Finnish national airlines. In 1990, Swissair was negotiating
with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Delta, which would be Swissairs first purely-commercial strategic partner. Key Management
Otto Loepfe, Swissairs president, had been directly involved in establishing the alliance strategy. With the previous years work behind him, he better understood some of the questions facing