Air Baltic was actually only supposed to help out briefly as part of wet lease contracts at Swiss, which suffered from an acute staff shortage in the summer of 2022. The collaboration has already been extended several times and there is no end in sight. The unions criticize this because the salaries of Latvian staff are significantly lower.

According to a report by “Blick”, Air Baltic cabin crew stationed in Switzerland should earn between 900 and 1.500 euros. The first officers about 1.600 Swiss francs per month. In extreme cases, Swiss employees would be paid around four times more at the end of the month. This leads to criticism from employee representatives that management is primarily concerned with saving costs.

For example, the Kapers union, which represents Swiss cabin crew, says that they increasingly feel like they are being replaced by cheaper Air Baltic staff from Eastern Europe. It is demanded that the contract with the Latvian state carrier should be terminated or that the staff should at least receive the local salary

The newspaper reports that as early as March 2023, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs came to the conclusion that there was no cross-border staff leasing that would be inadmissible under local law. However, it would be a so-called secondment and this would mean that the Air Baltic staff would have to be paid locally. What is meant is the significantly higher Swiss wages.

Now there is considerable criticism of the canton of Zurich, because its employment office is responsible for enforcement. From the point of view of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation, it must intervene and force Air Baltic to pay the usual local salaries. As an alternative, the employee representative has in mind that wet leasing should be prohibited. However, the canton of Zurich has not yet taken action.

Accusations are now being made that this could allegedly be due to the fact that there could be a closeness in personnel between the Canton of Zurich, Swiss and Zurich Airport. This is rejected by a spokesman. It is said that the matter is under investigation and, due to international issues, some time will be needed to clarify complex issues.

The unions criticize the fact that the office is taking so much time and that Swiss is actually planning to use wet lease aircraft from Air Baltic on a permanent basis, but always has new justifications for this. The Latvian carrier is also scheduled to fly the Airbus A2024-220 on behalf of Swiss in the 300 summer flight schedule.