Due to the still far too high rate of the CHF, SR Technics will fire 200 people as was announced. The €<>CHF rate of 1.20 is not sufficient, it was claimed. Further reductions of the workforce there can only be achieved if the ceiling is raised to €<>CHF 1.30 .

Sure, the 1.20 rate was achieved almost overnight, but a 1.30 rate may be a bit more difficult. BUT, with retail business being also severely affected by the currency crisis, such a move becomes increasingly urgent.

What prevents the BNS from changing the maxium rate from 1.2 to 1.3? It's not printing any money right now anyway as no investors are risking to attack the current policy and the deflation risk is still well alive...

the meeting was on thursday afternoon - it was announced 250 would go.

What right at present prevents or rather deters the SNB from going up is the fear that some commercial-financial events may put pressures onto the € so that even the 1.20 rate might become difficult to maintain. And second, the will to demonstrate that the SNB (with the political support it has now) is able to guarantee a stable line. The general idea is that the SNB will gradually raise the rate, to 1.30 or 1.35 . BUT they all remember that the swift action of Fritz Leutwyler in his time lead to an increased inflation. Mr Leutwyler later explained that in hindsight he favoured such an action to be done in phases. And so, THIS is what is done now. You may remember that the present policy became "general wisdom" on the basis of an interview given to the Sonntags-Zeitung by Nick Hayek, who already then also was in favour of a careful but decisive and determined policy.

In regard to SR Technics, you have to keep two aspects in mind :
1) the Abu Dhabi based owners did and possibly do NOT believe that CH is able and determined to keep the €-CHF rate up at above 1.20
2) SR Technics for years "burnt" money by the millions of CHF
> and this means that the owners decided to force some internal changes to be implemented, plus possibly some outsourcing of metalbashing things

But of course, back to the start, right you are, the Swiss economy needs a €-CHF rate of 1.30 or 1.35, even if it costs a bit.

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True, but it was clarified a day later that 50 already had "gone" in the past two or three weeks. It also was stated that a reduction of at least 150 could be achieved by simply not replacing people already on their way to leave the company. The hope is that enough people now get "convinced" that alternative jobs might be desirable . And let's be clear, SR Technics ZRH is in a market where both inside and outside "competitioners" are in Shannon, London-Stansted, Beirut, Cairo etc, and the whole enterprise might be threatened if they do not succeed to cut costs considerably and move into profits. The owners, shortly after taking over the shares of SR Technics held by a Dubai company, announced that they would have to sell the ZRH facility unless progress gets achieved

THIS is what I referred to when I in the past spoke about "the markets of relevance". I did not refer to the "financial markets", I did and do refer to the markets of the economy overall

And we had it earlier. The exchange-rates, as important as they are, are only one of a number of factors. Even if I clearly hope that the treshold is raised to 1.30 shortly

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Yikes, I have some good friends working there for a long, long time...i.e. from mid 70s (Starting with their apprenticeships) and Managers now. Times are bad... I hope they will be safe. In the 80s whenever I was in Zurich, I would end up in the SR Technik's canteen for lunch. Somehow it was much better and less crowded (some times) than Swissair's

We here not only have a lot of customers but also a lot of friends and acquaintances "over there" and so feel much affected by what happens there ... and while I see those UBS bankers as part of the problem I regard those affected by the developments at SR Technics as victims. And I most seriously feel disgusted to see that a "reduction" in a bank of some 2% of the workforce makes big headlines but that a reduction of far more percentage points elsewhere is a sidenote.

In recent interviews, both Mr Corti and Mr Schmidheiny quite correctly complained that 10 years ago the federal government was not ready to get up one billion CHF to rescue Swissair but now was ready to get up 10 billions to rescue UBS, a valueless rubbish paper company which rather should have been and still should be sold out on the market.

The thing about SRT is their location. Heavy and medium level maintenance is simply too expensive in Switzerland. SRT and Lufthansa Technics likewise in Germany know this, that's why they've set up subsidiaries abroad like Malta to lower their local overheads. The airline MRO business (Maintenance, Overhaul & Repair) is suffering from over capacity worldwide, I hate to say it but SRT"s lay offs are probably just the first wave with more to come I fear.

The actual problem is not so much the location as the location while relatively expensive is strategically good, but is that the structure and the mentality in many ways still is the one of Swissair-Technik. The following report is interesing :

Our new maintenance facility at Malta International Airport opened mid 2010. SR Technics operates from an existing, newly refurbished hangar at the airport. At our Malta facility we offer base and heavy maintenance for Airbus A320 family aircraft and as of 2012 also for Boeing 737 aircraft.


Located at Malta International Airport Size : 4,000 sqm Employees : 150 Facilities : narrow body hangar with 2 fully equipped heavy maintenance lines Back shops and storage spaces Aircraft Maintenance service center for Airbus A320 family aircraft Extension of capabilities to Boeing 737 Aircraft in 2011 Limited Aircraft stripping and painting services
SR Technics Malta Ltd.
Human Resources Inquiries
Maria Alessia Micallef, HR Assistant
Tel: +356 22 499 121
Email: mla_employment@srtechnics.com

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also interesting is the SRT base in Cork

> Acquired in May 2006, SR Technics Airfoil Services Ltd. provides turbine engine hot section component repair services for blades and vanes on GE, CFMI, Snecma, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce large commercial airline engines. This acquisition forms part of SR Technics' strategy to provide Integrated Engine Solutions (IES) for airlines and to expand and enhance SR Technics' product and service offering as SR Technics Airfoil Services has a long-standing reputation in the field of turbine component repairs.


Located at Blackrock, Cork Size – 4,645 sqm

Contact
SR Technics Airfoil Services Ltd.
Mahon Industrial Estate
Blackrock
Co Cork, Ireland

Tel: +353 21 4521 200
Fax: +353 21 4521 201
SR Technics Airfoil Services Limited, is a private company limited by shares and is registered in Ireland with number 412937.


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They also have bases in Madrid, Palma and Shanghai. They will have to relocate metal-bashing to those places very swiftly now

It was Marcel Ospel, the then UBS boss who had said at that time that the business should be able to sustain itself, otherwise it should be allowed to follow its natural path towards its "death". And now...?

It was a combination of the SR management in the 90s & McKinnsey and then the greedy bankers who killed an icon. Hunter Strategy? How could they be so dumb!

And NOW, the company of Mr Ospel, NOT able to sustain itself was not allowed to follow its natural path but was, at least for the moment, bailed out. I expect that "his" company in the end will be sold abroad, just to avoid liquidation. The billions of federal money were just thrown out of the window.

Yes, UBS is probably deemed too big to fail but SR, which stood for everything Swiss was not.

UBS was not too big to fail but had more clout in the higher echelons of politics, but I think it is to fail in the end. My hope is that the company gets sold, and a "grounding" can be avoided

You see, such a thing often is not so bad afterall. I just on Saturday spoke with somebody working at Agility Freight, the former Natural AG which was sold to a company in Kuwait. That those Kuwaitis now make the decisions is not bad really.

300 permanent employees being laid off at Jet Aviation Basel too, though mainly in Completions.

sounds like the aviation sector is having a few problems.

The recession catches up with every business sector, it's just that aviation isn't a "push industry", it has to wait for customers to come its way for maintenance and there are many MRO players out there offering similar services.

Jet Aviation in BSL had a clear market niche for decades., but in recent years they've had to compete nationally with TAG in GVA, and their nemesis in BSL with AMAC (former Jet Boss Köhli and co.). Add Lufthansa Technics in HAM into the mix and DFS in LBG and you have a host of competitors vying for your previous clients. Since Jet Avn is no longer a Hirschmann concern (having been taken over by General Dynamics, owners of business jet manufacturer Gulfstream), other airplane manufacturers are less likely to send refurbishment or outfitting work your way (like Dassault or Bombardier for example) as they're no longer independent.

thanks for the overview of the MRO aviation sector. The Swissport group seems to be doing well though.

They don't own any airplanes! Simples

Many moons ago SR Technics managed to ditch their oldnew stock for planes ending (or already out of) service.

That company went to the wall a few years back!!

Quite a few folks here who are knowledgeable about the aviation sector. I thought SR Technics only did MRO work but did not own the aircraft. Even the airlines lease them.

Swiss is seeking A320/A330/A340 B1 and B2 engineers, cabin and IFE mechanics. shift work, working days and there are also shifts working 100% nights.

I am not sure if the word has reached people who maybe interested?

If anyone knows people looking for work then contact swiss HR