Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has concluded a new collective labour agreement (CLA) with kapers, the union of its cabin personnel. Following intensive negotiations, both parties are convinced that they have forged a new accord which will substantially improve the employment terms and conditions of the company’s cabin crew members.

“This is a top priority for me, as we are very keen to also conclude an agreement for our shared future with our biggest personnel group,” says SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx. “So I am delighted that we now have a collective labour agreement which represents a genuine investment in our cabin crew corps and delivers tangible added value for everyone involved.” SWISS will be investing some CHF 200 million in the new CLA over the next five years. “The new accord doesn’t just raise the salaries of our more than 3,500 cabin crew members,” Vranckx continues. “It addresses their individual needs better than before, and in doing so helps to enhance their quality of life.”

Higher basic salaries, results-sharing options and new part-time employment models

Under the new CLA, all SWISS cabin crew members will have their full-time basic monthly salary increased by CHF 400. The new accord also incorporates a 2% inflation-based salary adjustment which already came into effect on 1 January 2023. The new remuneration package additionally offers SWISS’s cabin personnel a choice of further remuneration options from their third year of service onwards: they can elect to receive a guaranteed partial 13th monthly salary, or opt instead for a results-linked variable compensation component.

SWISS is also investing in the quality of life of its cabin crew members with the new CLA. Their monthly duty rosters will be published one week earlier, on the 18th of the previous month, to help them better plan their social lives. They will also be assigned seven fixed free days in each monthly roster. In a further innovation, SWISS’s cabin staff will now be remunerated for their standby duties, too. The new CLA also addresses cabin crew members’ various individual needs, by offering new part-time working models with more variable degrees of employment, more flexible switching possibilities in the course of a year and a wider range of duty relief options for older personnel.

In line with kapers regulations, the new CLA will now be subjected to a 15-day consultation period which begins today. After this, kapers members will vote between 25 November and 19 December 2023 on whether to accept the new CLA. If approved, the new CLA24 will then enter into effect on 1 January 2024.

Ben Pundole: Hotels, restaurants, bars, travel and hospitality have been particularly badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. What changes do you see coming out of this post-corona?

Marie-Louise Sciò: I think there’s going to be a big surge in quality. I think people will travel probably less, or they’ll do more domestic travel for a bit, but I think people will want quality. Being all quarantined in lockdown gives us a lot of time to think, and certainly, it gives you a lot of time to realize the value of the really simple things. The quality is in the really simple things, if it’s a smile, if it’s a gesture, if it’s a good tomato, if it’s something really simple. I’m a big sustainer of quality — it will prevail in some way. In hospitality, we just need to take care of our guests even better. That really needs to be aced, and it really has to come from the heart. I think people who work in hospitality are people who have a lot of passion for it. I mean, it’s not a job that you do for any other reason and I think it’s a time for us to really pull out everything we’ve got and really make the time of the guests amazing. 

Ben Pundole: The hotel industry is historically a very male dominated environment. How do you not only navigate that, but how do you succeed and thrive in this environment?

Marie-Louise Sciò: I think you just do what you believe in doing, and then you just have to stick with it. In our offices we have 14 girls and one guy. I’m a big believer in women. It is an industry that would certainly need more women.

Ben Pundole: I agree, certainly in senior positions.

Marie-Louise Sciò: Yes, and I think especially in Italy. Abroad there’s more women involved, but in Italy, it seems like it’s quite male-centric. That will change.

Ben Pundole: Any advice for people who want to make it in the hotel industry?

Marie-Louise Sciò: That’s a really big question. I never studied hospitality. I grew up in it, so a bit of it is innate. You have to be someone who likes people, that’s key. The basic fact is you really need to be a people person. The way I got into the family business — which was the last thing I was planning on doing — was just bringing a lot of my own interests in the experience. If you are true to who you are and you can bring that into your job, that is what I could advise: just bring yourself.

Ben Pundole: What are some of those interests that you brought into the hotel world?

Marie-Louise Sciò: Film, art and music. It’s about being a conductor of an orchestra. You have to make everything play together. The hotel experience is a sensorial experience, so all of those senses have to be on the same page. I brought all of that together to make the famous pasta sauce, a little bit of salt and pepper and da-da-da-da-da, and put it all together.

Ben Pundole: It’s not something you can write down. There is no recipe.

Marie-Louise Sciò: No. There’s an idea maybe on what you want someone to feel. It’s like when someone comes to your own home, how you want them to feel, what you want them to smell, what you want them to eat. It is — excuse the word, because I find it overused — curating that sensory experience that you do at home and doing it in a hotel. I only do in a hotel. My house is a mess. I do the opposite.

Ben Pundole: In fact, you are also known for your excellent taste in music. Have you made any special playlists in quarantine?

Marie-Louise Sciò: I’ve done one, actually, of Italian music. At the beginning of this quarantine, everyone was singing out the windows, and so I’ve done that on Spotify. Again, I just started listening to these incredible Italian musicians like Mina, Lucio Dalla, Battisti. I know Yolanda loves Battisti. I have that. If anyone wants to get into Italian music, I have that on. 

Ben Pundole: Favorite cocktail?

Marie-Louise Sciò: Vodka tonic. Actually, what I’d really like is a cocktail from our barman, Federico. I don’t know if there’s anyone who’s been to the Pellicano, but we have this barman who I’m really tied to. He’s really part of the DNA of the Pellicano, and he makes these great cocktails. I want his Patsy Spritzer.

This interview was edited from Episode 1 of AHL Live Podcast with Ben Pundole and Marie-Louise Sciò. You can listen to the full conversation here.

The post Marie-Louise Sciò appeared first on A Hotel Life.

What do you do, and how did you get here?

I’m the CEO of Beaumier, a collection of twelve boutique hotels across Switzerland, France, and Spain. My journey began as a sommelier, progressed through various roles in hospitality, and culminated as a hotel General Manager. Drawing from this wealth of experience, I founded Beaumier. Starting in the French Alps a decade ago, we’ve expanded to the Côte d’Azur and recently to Ibiza and Wengen.

Why do you love your job?

What fulfills me most is the recognition and satisfaction that come with creating beautiful hotels and facilitating memorable experiences for our guests. We aim to make a positive impact on their lives while taking pride in the creative and talented individuals behind our hotels.

If you could give hotel guests one piece of advice for their stay — and for life — what would it be?

To reconnect with life’s essentials, embrace nature, and immerse yourself in the local culture. Prioritize well-being, explore the beautiful countryside, indulge in local produce, and enjoy outdoor activities like swimming, hiking, or mountain biking.

How do you create a trustful relationship with your guests?

We build trust by providing an honest, authentic, and attentive experience. We emphasize authenticity over invented stories, drawing inspiration from local heritage, and adding our contemporary twist. We believe that less is more, focusing on quality over quantity and fostering trust with a longstanding, reliable team.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career today?

In our industry, building strong connections, creating a strong team culture, engaging with partners, and embracing sustainability are key. Be generous, a team player, enjoy taking care of others, be a continuous learner, and hone your analytical skills.

Claims large-scale all-inclusive hotels can’t operate as sustainably as smaller, independent properties are “utter nonsense by uneducated people”, according to the boss of easyJet holidays.

Moderated by BBC journalist Rajan Datar, the panel discussion featured industry luminaries Lucas Bobes (Amadeus), Inge Huijbrechts (Radisson Hotel Group), Ada Xu (Alibaba Group), and Ibrahim Osta (Chemonics International).

Nicolas argued that while many passengers are now conscious of their carbon footprint, the industry is still in the ‘raising awareness’ phase. He emphasised, “It is our responsibility as technology providers to enlighten passengers about why and how they should factor in sustainability when travelling. This must start with fully informing them about the ecological effects of flying. Only by doing so can we nurture climate consciousness and ensure climate protection initiatives continue to flourish.

“Secondly, we must be clear and transparent with passengers about their own carbon footprint. By using third-party data to show how each flight proposition performs against the average CO2 footprint of all propositions on that routing, we infuse sustainability into the customer’s decision-making process.”

As Nicolas explained, the next phase is behavioural change, whereby technology providers will once again lead the charge in helping travellers bridge the gap between their attitudes and actions – by encouraging direct flights, longer stays, and intermodal travel.

Digitrips – the owner of leading French multi-product travel platform MisterFly – works with not-for-profit organisation Atmosfair to offer travellers comprehensive and easily understandable emissions calculations as part of their travel booking process. The calculations take into account a wide range of factors including aircraft type, number of seats, occupation, flight altitude, and even contrails.