Swissair rescue talks to fail says union chief

Talks to rescue parts of Swissair through regional carrier Crossair will fail, leading to up to 15,800 job losses, the Wall Street…

Talks to rescue parts of Swissair through regional carrier Crossair will fail, leading to up to 15,800 job losses, the Wall Street Journalquoted Swiss general services union VPOD as saying.

The newspaper quoted a Crossair spokesman as rejecting the union's prediction of failure.

But the spokesman admitted the talks will not completed by today as initially hoped and will instead extend at least through the weekend.

The government is looking for funding from Swiss companies that depend on a national airline, so far without success.

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A spokesman for Roche Holding AG said the company was approached to fund part of a capital increase in Crossair, the Journal reported.

Union officials said they believe that at most 10 Swissair aircraft could be taken over by Crossair and predicted that no aircraft will actually be incorporated into the regional airline's fleet.

"The plan of Swissair and the government to incorporate 52 Swissair aircraft into Crossair cannot be financed," said VPOD president Mr Daniel Vischer VPOD Secretary Mr Rene Zurin said the plan's failure could cost up to 15,800 jobs at Swissair, or 82 per cent of its workforce in Switzerland.

AFP