Short domestic flights and celebrities on board: this is how Berset, Maurer and their colleagues use the jets of the Federal Council – Switzerland

German Development Minister Gerd Müller liked to take his wife with him in the government car. For the specialized opposition politicians, however, he had no seat on board. Germany has been discussing this in recent weeks, so the time has come for the question: who is allowed to fly on the Federal Council jet in Switzerland? Based on the Freedom of Information Act, “Switzerland at the weekend” has asked the federal government to provide a list of travel companions for 2019 and 2020. Information from five federal councilors is now available. The most important results:

The economy almost always stays out

If the federal councilors go abroad, they can open the doors to the Swiss economy. But a CEO hardly ever flies in the Federal Council jet. This shows a look at the flight guest list. There are usually only close staff members, office heads and administration specialists in the jet. Only Finance Minister Ueli Maurer had prominent guests on board: in 2019 he flew from a visit to Abu Dhabi to the King of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. Blaise Goetschin, head of the Cantonal Bank of Geneva, Thomas Gottstein, now CEO of Credit Suisse, and UBS top banker Ali Janoudi were on board. Herbert Scheidt, the president of the Bankers’ Association, was present throughout the journey, from Bern via Abu Dhabi to Riyadh and back.

From time to time we fly to Ticino

Climate-damaging domestic scheduled flights, for example from Zurich to Lugano, should be banned: this was what two politicians were calling for in 2019. The Federal Council has spoken out against it. Anything else would have been inconsistent. Because the federal councilors also use their two jets for domestic flights. Ueli Maurer flew from Bern to Geneva, for example. SP man Alain Berset flew the Zurich-Geneva route or used the Federal Council plane to return to Bern with his wife on Monday after the Locarno Film Festival. Due to time constraints, Ticino in particular is often served by the government jet. The Federal Council’s programs are extremely tight. If they were to take their company car to Ticino, they probably wouldn’t be able to keep some appointments there. Usually, however, jets fly Federal Councilors to other European countries; in Rome, Vienna or Brussels. It rarely happens, for example in Tunis, Washington or Moscow.

Extra support for Karin Keller-Sutter

Intermediate stops require kerosene and are not very climate friendly. However, it happens from time to time that federal councilors let themselves be unloaded closer to the front door (or at the next appointment) before the plane with the rest of the staff returns to the usual location in Bern-Belp. Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin was already out in Payerne. Intermediate stops have occurred several times with Karin Keller-Sutter from Eastern Switzerland. She did not go up to Bern, but to the federal military airport of Dübendorf, closest to where she lives in Wil (SG). It even happened that Keller-Sutter’s head of communications, his personal assistant and his secretary of state were taken from Bern to Dübendorf by a Pilatus PC 24. There, Keller-Sutter and another person were transferred to a Air Force Bombardier plane to fly to Berlin. On the return flight there was again an extra flight Bern from Dübendorf for the three people. The change of the aircraft was done for capacity reasons, says the Keller-Sutters department. Meetings are more possible in the larger machine.

However, it should also be noted: Keller-Sutter uses the Federal Council jet very rarely compared to other Federal Councilors. Compared to the Minister of Justice, a frequent flyer is his Secretary of State for Migration Mario Gattiker. For the past two years he has sat on the Bundesrat jet far more often than his boss.

Hardly any party colleagues on board

MPs are almost never present when federal councilors fly. Only Guy Parmelin took his party friend and fellow farmer, SVP National Councilor Marcel Dettling, with him when he flew to an international agricultural fair in Berlin in January 2020. Several employees of the Federal Office of Agriculture were also present at Berlin, but they were not present in the Bundesrat jet. The federal government paid for their scheduled flights because they were there earlier or stayed in Berlin longer than their boss. Dettling was invited by the minister of agriculture as a member of the economic commission, explains the Parmelins department. Another commissioner had also been invited but was unable to attend.

Beautiful photos never hurt

Alain Berset has no problem being in front of a camera. Rather. That the Minister of the Interior is having fun showing himself has become clear in the lockout. In Berset, a photographer from a photo agency was on board twice in the past two years when the SP man traveled overseas. In May 2019, Berset was on a visit to the Central African Republic. Berset in hospital, during talks with government members: who was photographed for the Swiss public, after all, the visit also drew attention to health care in crisis areas. There was also an important date of the Corona year that could not be missed: at the end of February, a photographer from the agency traveled with him when Berset met the health ministers of Germany, France, Austria and Italy in Rome.

In 2019/20, Federal Councilors traveled on three aircraft models: a Falcon 900 and a Cessna Citation Excel were the Federal Council’s official jets for years. A Swiss model, a Pilatus PC 24, has also been in operation since 2019. In total, federal councilors spent 554 hours in flight in 2019, significantly less than in 2018 (788 hours), most often the foreign minister. With the crown crisis, the number of flights is expected to be significantly lower again in 2020.