A Very Bumpy Takeoff

Talk about turbulence. First Switzerland's air-traffic-control system was blamed for last month's collision between a Russian passenger jet and a cargo plane that killed 71 people. Now air pockets of labor disputes, technical difficulties and a conflict among pilots have hit Swiss, the country's newly renamed national airline. Still smarting from the bankruptcy last fall of their old flag carrier, Swissair, the Swiss hope the recent glitches do not signal another disaster.

Swiss was born four months ago of a hasty merger between the defunct national airline — crippled by a failed expansion plan and the post-Sept. 11 travel...

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