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CHANGING TIMES FOR RHEINTALFLUG

By Patrick Hoeveler

From glider pilot to airline chief executive: success stories like this are not found only in America but also in Austria. The Rheintalflug regional airline is the work of Rolf Seewald. It was at the beginning of the 1970s that the enthusiastic pilot had turned his hobby into a profession and in 1973 he founded Rheintalflug as an air taxi service with a Cessna 172. Today the Bregenz-based airline operates three Embraer ERJ145's and two Bombardier Dash 8 Q300's. The routes it flies as a member of Team Lufthansa include Friedrichshafen to Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin and Stuttgart. The 170 employees (43 pilots, 40 flight attendants, 26 technicians) attach great importance to comfort and friendliness. "It is not everywhere that the passenger is treated as the most important person," says the 59-year-old founder of the company. The approach certainly works: in surveys carried out by Lufthansa the Austrian carrier's cabin crew regularly score the approval of 99% of the passengers.

On the Lufthansa routes, Rheintalflug carried some 150,000 passengers last year. A further 100,000 passengers were carried on its own independent routes, 15% of them on charter flights throughout Europe. Some of these are on behalf of Seewald's second company, VIP-Touristik, which operates flights to Elba and Sardinia. The airline also flies for TUI, including to Ibiza and Menorca.

The bulk of its own revenue comes from the St. Gallen/Altenrhein-Vienna route. On this route the airline even sells blocks of 1,000 or 2,000 flights to larger companies and banks. The important connection between western Austria and the capital city was the catalyst for the growth of the company.

Originally Seewald had not actually intended establishing a separate airline. He simply wanted to offer the business community in the Vorarlberg region a fast means of transport, as even today without an aircraft the journey to Vienna through the mountains is extremely onerous. One can expect the journey to take up to eight hours by rail and seven by car.

Due to the heavy demand, Seewald decided to turn the taxi flights into a regular service. After various single and twin-engined aircraft, a Bombardier Dash 8-100 was to bring the breakthrough. But the private airfield in Hohenems was too small for the regional turboprop. The next choice was the nearby St. Gallen/Altenrhein in Switzerland. In April 1991 the 37-seater finally entered service on the route to Vienna.

When Deutsche BA withdrew from Friedrichshafen Rheintalflug gained a second base there and in 1997 it signed a codeshare agreement with Lufthansa. As a sideline, Seewald made it possible for the Vorarlberg locals to depart for holiday destinations virtually from their doorstep and offered niche destinations like Elba and Sardinia. In August 1998 Rheintalflug joined Team Lufthansa.

It was then at the beginning of 2000 that the jet age reached Rheintalflug and the first ERJ145 entered service. Passenger numbers on the Vienna route rose by over 30% while the number of flights remained the same (5 per day). The flying time is 25 minutes shorter with the ERJ145 than with the Dash 8. A sixth daily flight was then approved by the authorities as the jet complied more effectively with the aircraft noise limitations in Altenrhein. "Generally, one can expect a jet to bring 10% more passengers," says Seewald. A propeller aircraft is acceptable as a feeder aircraft, he argues, as the passenger does not have much choice. But in point-to-point connections one is at a disadvantage with a turboprop. "We want to always be first," says Seewald à propos of the decision to take the Dash8-Q400 out of service and order another two Embraer jets from Brazil.

The South Americans won the order because their plane is the only regional jet capable of operating out of Altenrhein (runway length 1530m). However, the standard version had to undergo some modifications. Embraer developed a special performance-enhancing package which made it possible to operate out of Altenrhein. As a result, pilots have more take-off power and take-off with a higher flap setting (18-o instead of 9-o). 50 passengers with normal amounts of luggage can be carried on the flights to Vienna, and only on longer charter flights are there restrictions because of the maximum take-off weight limitations.

Rolf Seewald is very enthusiastic about the jet. "The ERJ 145 is a great success." Moreover, thanks to its lower weight the Brazilian aircraft is subject to lower landing charges, and other aspects of operating costs are lower than with the CRJ from Bombardier. "On all the cost parameters, it comes out cheaper. At the present time the ERJ 145 is the most economical jet, and it is also very popular with the passengers."

Seewald has become infected with their enthusiasm. The President of Rheintalflug is still often to be found in the cockpit. He is the only pilot in the airline who is rated as captain on both types used and clocks up around 400 flying hours per year in this role. On teh other side he keen on his managerial skills. It was with a view to expanding operations still further and securing the jobs of his workforce that Seewald looked around for a good partner. Austrian Airlines (AUA) was an obvious candidate from the start. The decision to join forces with the Austrian alliance was made in February 2001.

Rheintalflug is now a 100% subsidiary of AUA, the fourth airline in the Austrian Group along with AUA, Lauda and Tyrolean. Seewald's position as CEO is guaranteed for three years. "It is a pleasant feeling as a small regional airline to find oneself alongside the big players in the Star Alliance," he says.

Now that it is a member of the AUA partnership, the company is slowly pulling back from Team Lufthansa. The airline remains in the same camp but in the long-term it will cease to fly domestic German routes. Other partners such as Augsburg Airways or Contact Air will take over those routes. The first route to go will be Stuttgart-Münster on 1 August.

Saying goodbye will not be easy for Seewald and his staff. "We enjoyed flying in Germany. It is very sad to have to give up the routes that we established now that they are working well." However, German passengers will not have to forego the friendly and almost family-like treatment they received at the hands of Rheintalflug entirely. In March 2002 the Austrians intend to introduce a Friedrichshafen-Vienna service.

Within the AUA alliance Seewald sees his airline's role as to provide a foothold in the Lake Constance region and be a service provider in niche markets. The established Altenrhein-Vienna route, which he expects to notch up 100,000 passengers this year, is therefore to be retained. In addition, the Vienna hub is to be served with niche routes on which the ERJ145 can be flown cost-effectively. "The ideal route is around two flying hours long," says Seewald. As a start, a new daily connection to Tallin in Estonia is to be introduced shortly.

Although decisions regarding the route network are now ultimately in the hands of the AUA Group, fleet planning initially remains unaffected. In the winter of 2001 a fourth ERJ145 will replace one Dash 8. From February 2002 when the last turboprop is taken out of service Rheintalflug will fly only jet aircraft. Whether the existing option for an ERJ170 (for delivery in the second quarter of 2003) is converted to a firm order will be up to AUA.

However, Seewald does not believe Rheintalflug is competing with fellow Group member, Tyrolean. The parent company solution (a common management team) means that the AUA Group board makes all the decisions. "Within the alliance it is perfectly possible to sustain two types," says Seewald, so that the fact that Tyrolean's fleet is made up of Bombardiers should not be a problem. A decision to proceed with the ERJ170 order could yet be the crowning moment of his flying career. For even today dreams about flying continue to have a place in Rheintalflug. Thus the flying twins, Antonia and Carina Guggenmos are waiting to be entered in the book of records. Since February they have been working as co-pilots in the Dash 8 cockpit, making them the only two sisters to work in this profession.

From page 30 of FLUG REVUE 8/2001