Swiss’ cargo division has a new helmsman: Alain Chisari. The Swiss-Italian dual national has held various management positions at Swiss and the Lufthansa parent company since 2008. On 01OCT24, he will take over the driver’s seat from his predecessor, Lorenzo Stoll. The latter left Swiss WorldCargo three months ago to become head of a Swiss company engaged in the healthcare sector.
The name of the new head of freight will probably mean nothing to the majority of the roughly 300 employees at Swiss WorldCargo. That is because the 52-year-old has not made a name for himself in the cargo industry in his professional career to date. This will change next week, Alexandra Dahl, Head of Communication told CargoForwarder Global. “On the occasion of his appointment, we intend to organize a Welcome Session held either hybrid in Zurich at our headquarters or completely online,” she announces.
Extensive management experience, but no cargo background
So, who is Mr. Alain Chisari? He joined Swiss in 2008, having already acquired 12 years of industry experience with other airlines outside the Lufthansa Group. He initially served as Head of Leisure Sales, before moving within Swiss to become Head of External Relations & Alliances. In 2013, he moved to Swiss’ subsidiary, Edelweiss, where he spent the next five years as Chief Commercial Officer and a Member of the Management Board. After a further five years serving first as the Singapore-based Vice President Area Management Asia & Pacific for the Lufthansa Group and subsequently in the Group’s Munich-based Area Management EMEA, he assumed his present function as the Lufthansa Group’s Implementation Officer for Italian airline, ITA Airways, one year ago. Particularly this role, which he has recently assumed, could become very important for Swiss WorldCargo. This is because the catchment areas of Swiss and ITA overlap significantly. The northern Italian market, with its economic centers of Milan, Bergamo, Genoa, Turin, Bologna and Verona, is extremely interesting for cargo carriers, due to its high industrial density. Chisari’s task will certainly be to prevent cannibalization to the detriment of both sides.
Excellently connected
Little is known about his diplomatic skills, but the manager has an extremely wide range of languages. In addition to English, German, French, and Swedish, he speaks perfect Italian, which should make it easier to reach agreements with the cargo division of Rome-based carrier, ITA.
“Alain Chisari brings a vast range of experience of the airline business both within and beyond the Lufthansa Group, to his new position,” says Swiss Chief Commercial Officer, Heike Birlenbach. “Thanks to his various international activities, he is also excellently connected throughout our industry. I’m convinced that he will continue to successfully develop our air cargo business, and I look forward to working with him.” Mrs. Birlenbach went on to say: “I also offer Lorenzo Stoll my warmest thanks for all his service and commitment. He steered our air freight division with great success, not least through the highly challenging pandemic times; and he and his Swiss WorldCargo team have consistently made a key contribution to our company’s favorable earnings of the past few years.” Alain Chisari holds an Executive Master’s Degree in General Management from the SGMI Institute of Management St. Gallen. In his new role, Chisari will bear overall responsibility for Swiss’ entire air freight division and for developing and implementing the division’s business strategy.
