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INTRODUCTION
Andre Dose may very well be the unknown dark horse in the airline industry, but what he lacks in international recognition, he makes up in drive and determination. Appointed CEO of Crossair in late 2000, Andre took over the top job at Crossair so that Crossair's previous CEO and Founder Moritz Suter could leave the company to become president of Swissair. Suter left his job as Swissair CEO a few weeks into the post convinced that he was unable to fulfill his mission, followed rapidly thereafter by a mass resignation of most of the Swissair board. Mario Corti, previously CFO of Nestle was given the top job at Swissair, and immediately tapped Andre Dose into Swissair's management committee. The next year was critical for Swissair, and Dose, sitting as one of the top management officers for Swissair as well as CEO of Crossair, was well placed to experience firsthand the events leading up to Swissair's demise.
Beginning his career in the pilot's seat, not of an airline but in an airplane, Dose has done a variety of things in his career, ranging from playing professional soccer (goal keeper for Geneva's famous soccer team Servette) to flying corporate jets. Joining Crossair in the 1980s as a pilot, he made his way through a variety of pilot and administrative jobs, including being responsible for the pilots' union, before being brought into Crossair's top management in the late 1980s.
Upon the bankruptcy of Swissair, Dose became the driving force in creating the Phoenix Plan, calling for the acquisition of about 65 percent of Swissair fleets and routes into Crossair, raising 2.7 billion Swiss francs of new debt and equity, and branding and launching the new airline under the Swiss International Airline name. Rising out of the ashes of the bankrupt Swissair and the successful regional airline Crossair, the recent launch of Swiss International Airlines represents an intriguing experiment in creating a major European airline following the series of external events that shook, displaced, and finally destroyed one of Europe's oldest and best known airlines.
Swiss Airlines has recently unveiled a business plan/rebranding strategy, vowing that it would become the best airline in the world. The expectation is that by the end of this year Swiss would serve...