About SwissAir:


Swissair (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne, stylised as swissair) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002.

Swissair was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero.[2] For most of its 71 years, it was one of the major international airlines and known as the "Flying Bank" due to its financial stability, causing it to be regarded as a Swiss national symbol and icon. It was headquartered at Zurich Airport, Kloten.

In 1997, the Swissair Group was renamed SAirGroup (although it was again renamed Swissair Group in 2001), with four subdivisions: SAirLines (to which Swissair, regional subsidiaries Crossair and Balair, and leasing subsidiary FlightLease belonged), SAirServices, SAirLogistics, and SAirRelations.

Due to its so-called "Hunter Strategy" of expanding its market by acquiring smaller airlines, Swissair was suffering from over-expansion by the late 1990s. The crash of Swissair Flight 111 in 1998, which killed all 229 people on board, generated a costly lawsuit and negative publicity for the airline. After the economic downturn following the September 11 attacks, Swissair's assets dramatically lost value, grounding the already-troubled airline in October 2001. The airline was later revived and kept alive until 31 March 2002 by the Swiss Federal Government. The final Swissair flight landed in Zürich from São Paulo on 1 April 2002.

On 1 April 2002, a former regional subsidiary Crossair renamed itself Swiss International Air Lines and took over most of Swissair's routes, planes, and staff. Swissair Group still exists and has since been liquidated. Swiss International Air Lines was taken over by the German airline Lufthansa in 2005.
About McDonnell Douglas MD-11:

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American trijet wide-body airliner manufactured by American manufacturer McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and later by Boeing. Following DC-10 development studies, the MD-11 program was launched on December 30, 1986. Assembly of the first prototype began on March 9, 1988. Its maiden flight occurred on January 10, 1990, and it achieved Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification on November 8. The first delivery was to Finnair on December 7 and it entered service on December 20, 1990.

It retains the basic trijet configuration of the DC-10 with updated GE CF6-80C2 or PW4000 turbofan engines. Its wingspan is slightly larger than the DC-10 and it has winglets. Its maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is increased by 14% to 630,500 lb (286 t). Its fuselage is stretched by 11% to 202 ft (61.6 m) to accommodate 298 passengers in three classes over a range of up to 7,130 nautical miles [nmi] (13,200 km; 8,210 mi). It features a glass cockpit that eliminates the need for a flight engineer.

Originally positioned as a longer-range alternative to rival twinjets, the existing Boeing 767 and the upcoming Boeing 777 and Airbus A330, the MD-11 initially failed to meet its range and fuel burn targets, which impacted its sales despite a performance improvement program. McDonnell Douglas's finance struggles prevented further development of the MD-11 before it was acquired by Boeing in 1997; the unified company decided to terminate the MD-11 program after filling outstanding orders due to internal competition from Boeing's own 767 and 777. Only 200 examples were built, of which roughly a quarter were freight aircraft, and production concluded in October 2000. In November 2014, it was officially retired from passenger service, last flown by KLM. Many of the MD-11 passenger fleet were converted to freighter specification, with many remaining in service as of 2025.

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