Aviation

Cultural diversity in the center of Europe

Switzerland, a country of 41,285 km2, is home to 7.5 million inhabitants. 21.8% of which are foreigners, and of those 16,503 are Brazilians (2009), based on numbers of the Swiss Immigration Office.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) was founded in 2002, when the companies SWISSAIR and CROSSAIR merged. More recently, on July 1, 2007, the company became part of the Lufthansa Group, the "Star Alliance" and also the mileage program "Miles and More".

SWISS is the largest and principal airline in Switzerland. Currently, there are 7,383 employees in the company. Amongst them you will also find Brazilians contributing on a daily basis towards its success.

To name a few, we have Danielle de Araújo Taboada, Petra Adelheid Eberle, Allan de Lima and Flávio Doardo Frehner Perdicchia.

Danielle was born in Rio de Janeiro. After graduating in international business, she left her hometown in 2005 to study German in Switzerland. Since she already had previous experience in the aviation sector working as an agent for VARIG S.A., she decided to apply for a position as a cabin crew member with SWISS, in 2007. Together with Danielle, 440 new members were hired and recruited by SWISS that year.

Petra, a Swiss-Brazilian, went to live in Brazil with her parents when she was only one year old. After finishing school, she returned to Switzerland where she graduated in business. Ever since she was a girl, Petra had dreamed of working as a flight attendant, so she soon decided to change her profession. She worked for the former Crossair as well as the former SWISSAIR. For personal reasons, she had to leave the aviation business for several years. During this time, she lived in many different countries around the world. Besides Switzerland and Brazil, she can call Monaco, Canada and The Bahamas home. However, the "virus" of flying had no cure. In 2009 she decided to apply for a job as a cabin crew member with SWISS and was lucky enough to be accepted into the corporation in January 2010.

Allan was born in Santos - SP, Brazil. After finishing his studies in 1996 and graduating at the International Tourism School in Freiburg, Germany, he decided to become a cabin crew member. He worked for a few years for Lufthansa, based in Munich. In 2007, he decided to join SWISS. He loves flying to São Paulo. Since his parents and sister live in Brazil, it is a perfect opportunity for him to visit his family. "I leave home to go home", he says.

Flavio is Italian-Brazilian and was born in Switzerland. He graduated in International business and has studied economics, marketing and accounting. After his studies, a member of his family, who lives in Brazil and works as a cabin crew member at TAM, encouraged him to change his plans. He became fascinated with the profession on seeing her in her uniform and learning that she travelled around the world. Without hesitation, he decided to apply for a job as a cabin crew member himself. So, at only 20 years of age he was employed by SWISS.

After intensive training and introductory flights, the new crew members are initially licensed to fly aboard the Airbus 320 fleet, thus acquiring more experience over time and being prepared to work on the long-haul flights operated by Airbus 330 and Airbus 340.

Adapting oneself to a new life in Switzerland is a pleasant surprise. It is a multicultural country in the heart of Europe and a meeting point for different languages and different people. In Switzerland, there are four official languages and it is a pleasure to live and learn from this plurality. The same goes for working for SWISS. A company where you find people from all continents, everyone with their own specialty, united in a common goal: to offer passengers the well known Swiss hospitality. Different languages and cultures are not seen as barriers here, but bridges to help unite the nations of the world.

Out of their three main airports, Zurich, Geneva and Basel, SWISS serves 73 destinations in 39 countries around the world.

On board one of their modern Airbus 340 aircraft, SWISS takes up to 228 passengers in and out of São Paulo daily, on twelve-hour flights. This route is equally attractive for tourists as for business people, since it connects two important hubs.

Of course, the Brazilian cabin crew members are especially fond of this route. Besides being able to visit their homeland, they are able to offer a more personalized service to their passengers, something that is written in capital letters at SWISS.

It is SWISS's pleasure to welcome you on board to hospitable Switzerland - the heart of Europe.

Danielle de Araújo Taboada and Petra A. Eberle are flight attendants of Swiss International Air Lines.