Swissair's grounding and collapse

From 1997, Swissair chief executive Philippe Bruggisser pursued an aggressive 'Hunter' strategy of buying stakes in smaller, financially troubled European airlines — including Belgium's Sabena and Poland's LOT — hoping to build Swissair's own alliance to rival Star Alliance and SkyTeam. The strategy instead loaded parent company SAirGroup with debt from loss-making acquisitions, and the sharp drop in air travel after the September 11, 2001 attacks removed the revenue cushion that might otherwise have bought time. On October 2, 2001, fuel suppliers and airport authorities, unpaid and unwilling to extend further credit, refused to service Swissair's aircraft, grounding the entire fleet worldwide and stranding roughly 39,000 passengers with no warning. SAirGroup collapsed with debts of about 17 billion Swiss francs, the largest bankruptcy in Swiss economic history. A slimmed-down successor, built around the regional carrier Crossair, took over domestic and short-haul routes and was renamed Swiss International Air Lines in 2002, later acquired by Germany's Lufthansa.