Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss has suspended two pilots who were found to be alcohol-impaired shortly before they were due to operate a flight from Geneva in May 2026.
Other crew members raised the alarm hours before departure, alerting supervisors at the crew hotel. Their concerns were specific enough that the airline doubted the pilots' fitness for duty. Subsequent alcohol tests confirmed the suspicion, and both men were pulled from the assignment and replaced before leaving the hotel.
The pilots were scheduled to fly an Airbus A220 to a European destination. Swiss stressed they never entered the cockpit and said safety mechanisms functioned as intended. The airline, citing privacy, has withheld the pilots' nationalities and the flight's destination. Both remain grounded pending further disciplinary review.