Moritz Suter founded the airline in February 1975 as a private company under the name Business Flyers Basel AG. The company operated under this initial name for several years before undergoing a significant change on November 18, 1978, the name was officially changed to Crossair. Scheduled services began shortly thereafter, on July 2, 1979, with flights connecting
Zürich to
Nuremberg,
Innsbruck, and
Klagenfurt. As the new decade began, Crossair committed to fleet expansion, placing an order in 1980 for ten
Saab 340 aircraft. The first of these, registered HB-AHA, was delivered on June 6, 1984, and entered service soon after on June 15, flying between Basel and
Paris Charles de Gaulle. Notably,
Pope John Paul II was one of the dignitaries on this inaugural flight. In 1994, Crossair continued its partnership with
Saab by becoming a launch customer for the
Saab 2000, a high-speed turboprop the airline affectionately nicknamed "Concordio." This was a pivotal aircraft for the company, which would ultimately operate 34 of them before its closure, taking delivery of the final manufactured Saab 2000 in 1999. The Saab 2000 fleet also supported Crossair's cargo partnership operations with
DHL and
FedEx. In 1992, Crossair were a founder member of the
Qualiflyer frequent flyer scheme alongside Swissair and
Austrian Airlines. A change in ownership structure occurred in 1995.
Swissair, Crossair's then-parent company, acquired a two-thirds majority stake in the airline as part of the financing agreement for Crossair's purchase of 12 Avro
RJ100 jets, with a further 12 options.. At this time, Swissair outsourced its regional flight operations to Crossair, alongside absorbing loss-making charter flights of Balair which had recently merged with Compagnie de Transport Aérien. Throughout the mid-1990s, Crossair distinguished itself through creative marketing, including unique aircraft liveries. In 1995, the airline teamed up with
Andrew Lloyd Webber and
The Phantom of the Opera to create a unique livery celebrating the musical's opening in Basel. Crossair also worked with
McDonald's to create the famous "McPlane," a distinctively red aircraft featuring the iconic logos that even served McDonald's food onboard. As the airline progressed into 1998, they launched
Crossair Europe, operating flights from the French side of
EuroAirport to circumvent challenges of European Union restrictions on Swiss air traffic and routes. Seeking further fleet modernization, Crossair assessed an order to become a launch customer for the new
Fairchild Dornier 728JET. However, the airline later decided against this purchase, instead canceling the orders and opting to buy Embraer's new
ERJ170 jet.
Embraer later explored the development of a shortened version of the E170 specifically tailored for Crossair's needs. In 2000, Crossair suffered their first major accident when
Flight 498 crashed minutes after takeoff from Zurich airport. The crash came in the midst of a bitter labor-management dispute between Crossair and its pilots over a possible pay raise and work rules changes. The pilots' union had just canceled pay agreements with Crossair in December 1999, with a termination effective in summer 2000. In addition, and prior to the accident, two Crossair pilots told Swiss media that some foreign pilots employed by Crossair posed a safety risk because of an insufficient knowledge of English. These two pilots were fired by Crossair, but were then elected to head the pilots' union, "Crossair Cockpit Personnel (CCP)". An investigation of the accident later revealed that the pilot of Flight 498 Pavel Gruzin and copilot Rastislav Kolesár were only able to communicate with each other in English, but Gruzin's ability to speak English was too limited to hold more than a basic conversation. In October 2000, a Crossair aircraft at
Luxembourg Airport was attacked by two men armed with
Kalashnikov assault rifles in an attempted robbery of bank notes being loaded onto the plane. The pilot was completing an external safety inspection of the aircraft at the time, with no passengers onboard the aircraft. Police were involved in an exchange of gunfire leaving six people injured. The incidents coincided with the airlines first significant financial loss since 1992, of $3.5 million. By 2001, Swissair's stake in the regional airline had increased to 70%. However, this year also marked the start of the final chapter for both companies. After parent company
SAirGroup filed for a debt restructuring moratorium in October 2001, an overhaul of the entire operation became unavoidable. Suter, remaining as CEO, called the alliance with Swissair through
Qualiflyer into question suggesting his airline may break-away from the group. A month later, a second fatal crash for Crossair occurred when
Flight 3597 crashed in a wooded area near
Bassersdorf whilst on final approach to Zurich airport. The Swiss
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The AAIB would conclude that the accident was a
controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) caused by a series of
pilot errors and
navigation mistakes that led the plane off-course. Of the 33 occupants, 9 survived including Swiss politician
Jacqueline Badran. Among the 24 people that lost their lives in the accident were
Melanie Thornton, the former lead singer of the German Eurodance duo
La Bouche, and singers
Nathaly van het Ende and
Maria Serrano Serrano of the German-Dutch Eurodance trio
Passion Fruit; the group's third singer,
Debby St. Maarten did survive the accident, albeit with significant injuries. The head of Crossair at the time, André Dosé, confirmed the families of those affected would receive compensation of 30,000
CHF. Several years later, seven executives of the former airline were charged for their actions concerning the Flight 3597. After legal proceedings, the defendants were acquitted in 2008. The Swiss federal prosecutor did not appeal the decision. André Dosé and Moritz Suter were awarded a combined compensation settlement of 200,000 CHF whilst four managers were awarded 100,000 CHF each. During the ensuing chaos of late 2001, Crossair was pulled into a legal battle with
Air Liberté, a former Swissair-owned subsidiary. This dispute resulted in the impounding of a Crossair
Embraer 145 aircraft in
Nice, though Crossair denied liability for Swissair’s debts. Despite these legal and financial hurdles, Crossair became the vehicle for the "Phoenix" plan to revive a national Swiss airline, with the Canton of Zurich voting to inject 300million CHF into the new project. On March 31, 2002, Swissair ceased all operations. Crossair subsequently absorbed most of Swissair's assets, underwent a comprehensive restructuring, and was officially rebranded to become Swiss International Air Lines. ==Head office==