No federal councilor flew as often as Berset in 2023: in a helicopter to the party of his fellow party member

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Swiss ministers are known for being down-to-earth: in 2018, then Minister of Transport Doris Leuthard (60) received applause for sitting on the stairs in the crowded Intercity. A few weeks later, Alain Berset (51) was praised for sitting on a curb in front of the UN headquarters in New York studying files.

But our federal councilors can also do differently, as shown by the latest statistics from the air transport service, which ’20 Minutes’ first reported this week. Accordingly, in 2023, some government members used the service helicopter or jet for events that were more private in nature.

On a Saturday in June, for example, Berset was flown by helicopter from his home in the canton of Friborg to St. Gallen. The reason for the exclusive state transport: the farewell party of SP veteran Paul Rechsteiner (71).

Guy Parmelin (64) did much the same on a Saturday in October last year: together with his wife, he boarded the Federal Council helicopter at his home in Vaud to fly to Frauenfeld TG. He was also expected by a fellow party member: Peter Spuhler (65), patron of Stadler Rail and former SVP state councilor, had invited people to an “informal meeting including dinner”.

Ignazio Cassis (62) has now declared three flights from Bern-Belp to his home in Ticino as ‘private’. The Minister of Foreign Affairs used the air transport service 77 times – well above average.

“Obligations and Invitations”

Cassis was surpassed only by Berset. In his last year in office, the Minister of the Interior made 83 flights, of which 40 by Federal Council plane and 43 by helicopter. The media office of the Ministry of the Interior justifies the frequent flying of its former head with “obligations and invitations” in connection with his office as Federal President.

But 83 flights per year is an impressive number even for a sitting President of the Federal Council, especially since scheduled flights to Africa, Asia or overseas are not included in this list.

What is also striking is that more than half of Berset’s flights had runways within Switzerland – remarkable for a social democrat whose party not long ago wanted to ban domestic flights.

Berset sometimes even used the Federal Council helicopter for routes that could be covered in less than an hour by train or car. For example, he flew from Bern to Basel for the Swiss Art Awards. Or to the Swiss Economic Forum from Bern to Interlaken BE. By car it would have taken him only 45 minutes.

Source:Blick