Episode Overview

Podcast: Excellent Executive Coaching: Growing Your Business and Enhancing Your Craft
Host: Dr. Katrina Burrus, PhD, MCC
Episode: From Failure to Leadership Success: Swiss International Airlines featuring Lorenzo Stoll
Date: January 27, 2026
Guest: Lorenzo Stoll, General Manager for Swiss International Air Lines in Swiss Romande

This episode explores the transformation of Swiss International Air Lines in Geneva from its historic roots as a legacy carrier to a competitive, customer-focused airline. Lorenzo Stoll shares insights into overcoming emotional and operational challenges, leading cultural change, reshaping business models, and his own journey from fast-moving consumer goods into the complex airline industry.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Lorenzo Stoll's Background & Swiss Identity

• [00:37] Stoll introduces himself, highlighting his diverse Swiss heritage (Swiss Italian mother, Swiss German father, raised in Swiss Romande), multilingual upbringing, and early education in languages.
  • "I do believe I am a kind of a complete Swiss because I have the Swiss German rigor combined with the Ticinese passion, but the whole mixed with some romand douceur de vivre." — Lorenzo Stoll [00:43]

The Fascination of Airline Management

• [01:46] Stoll describes his role as General Manager, emphasizing the blend of technological and financial complexity with the emotion and magic of flying.
  • "It is a job that mixes technological complexity...with very high financial stakes...with emotions because the flying keeps a certain sense of magic." — Lorenzo Stoll [01:56]

Industry Challenges: Competing with Low-Cost Carriers

• [02:45] Discusses the competitive shift toward low-cost carriers and the need for Swiss to adapt from a 'legacy' structure.
• [03:26] Outlines the shift from a hub-and-spoke (Zurich-centric) business model to a point-to-point model in Geneva, adapting to changing customer needs and competition.
  • "We moved away from the hub and spoke concept to a point to point concept...the first decision driver for our passengers...is that they need to go somewhere and that we provide them with a good price and a good schedule." — Lorenzo Stoll [03:38]

Game Changers & Creating Demand

• [04:29] Stoll credits low-cost carriers, likening their industry disruption to how Elon Musk upended automotive markets.
  • "I think they were as visionary 20 years ago as for example Elon Musk is today with Tesla, reinventing a market." — Lorenzo Stoll [05:39]
• Describes how low-cost operators invented travel demand with cheaper, frequent point-to-point flights, forcing legacy carriers to innovate or risk irrelevance.

Emotional and Cultural Challenges

• [06:29] Recounts the emotional impact felt in Swiss Romande after Swissair ceased long-haul flights from Geneva, giving rise to local perceptions of abandonment and enabling EasyJet’s growth.
  • "They abandoned us. We are second grade Swiss citizens. And this has kind of also created the emotional turf for EasyJet to grow in Geneva." — Lorenzo Stoll [07:17]
• Stresses the challenge of re-establishing Swiss as a quality, competitive alternative.

Personal Journey: From Nestlé to Aviation

• [07:56] Stoll comes from a retail (Nestlé, FMCG) background—unusual for the airline world.
  • He identifies the lack of an established sales culture in airlines versus fast consumer goods.

Leading Change: Hard Work and Learning

• [09:04] The steep personal learning curve—diving into airline industry fundamentals in a matter of months.
  • "The price for that opportunity was that in a few months I had to learn the fundamentals of this industry." — Lorenzo Stoll [09:14]
• [09:58] Swiss hired him for his outsider perspective, enabling him to question established processes diplomatically, emphasizing the need for tact and selective reform.
  • "Question the existing...do it in a way that you don't...offend people...It's just that somebody has another perspective." — Lorenzo Stoll [10:13]

Change Management: Sequential, Not Holistic

• [11:53] Learnt that successful change must be sequential, not simultaneous:
  • "It's better to have...the bigger, better and bolder approach. Let's do one or two big things...do that very properly, very good. And then we'll move to the next thing." — Lorenzo Stoll [12:58]

Key Learnings and Leadership Philosophy

• [13:29] Hard work is the bedrock of success—vision or charisma matter, but diligence prevails.
  • "Success is the result of hard work...it's only in the dictionary where success comes before work." — Lorenzo Stoll [13:39]
• [14:20] Focused effort is crucial; avoid distractions for maximal impact.

Advice to Young Leaders

• [15:19] "Be committed, be passionate and be enthusiastic." — Lorenzo Stoll [15:20]
• [15:30] Leadership is about how you live your role, inspiring others and enabling teams.
  • "Your position...is mainly given to you by a decision that is not always yours. So you are nominated into a managing or a leadership function, but the way you live it will make you a leader or not." — Lorenzo Stoll [15:30]
• The leader’s job: Set the vision/direction and remove obstacles for teams, not to do everything themselves.
• Empowerment means accepting mistakes and taking responsibility for them.
  • "At the moment you empower people, at the moment you give them the trust, you must live with the idea that they will do mistakes and that you in your function will have to live with the consequences of that mistake. And that's okay." — Lorenzo Stoll [17:37]

Leadership Style

• [16:46] Self-described as "passionate, demanding, rewarding, recognizing and honest."
  • "Probably if you ask some of the people I work with, they might tell you that I'm very straightforward. Sometimes I lack a little bit of diplomacy, but that has the advantage that they know where I want to go." — Lorenzo Stoll [17:05]

Vision for Swiss in Geneva

• [18:17] Aims for Swiss to be the strong number two airline in French-speaking Switzerland—a go-to alternative.
  • "We will have gained enough market presence so that passengers...will systematically consider Swiss as a solid and viable alternative to our competitors." — Lorenzo Stoll [18:27]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It is a job that mixes technological complexity...with very high financial stakes...with emotions because the flying keeps a certain sense of magic." — Lorenzo Stoll [01:56]
• "I think they were as visionary 20 years ago as...Elon Musk is today with Tesla, reinventing a market." — Lorenzo Stoll [05:39]
• "It's only in the dictionary where success comes before work." — Lorenzo Stoll [13:39]
• "Be committed, be passionate and be enthusiastic." — Lorenzo Stoll [15:20]
• "You are nominated into a managing or a leadership function, but the way you live it will make you a leader or not." — Lorenzo Stoll [15:32]
• "At the moment you empower people...you must live with the idea that they will do mistakes...and that's okay." — Lorenzo Stoll [17:37]
• "Passionate, demanding, rewarding, recognizing and honest." (Describing his leadership style) — Lorenzo Stoll [16:46]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Background, Identity & Early Career: [00:37]–[01:38]
• Role & Fascinations of Airline Management: [01:46]–[02:32]
• Business Model Evolution: [03:26]–[04:26]
• Industry Disruption by Low-Cost Carriers: [04:29]–[06:29]
• Emotional Impact & Cultural Challenge: [06:29]–[08:54]
• Learning Curve in a New Sector: [09:04]–[09:46]
• Change Management & Leadership Approach: [09:58]–[13:18]
• Key Learnings/Success Factors: [13:29]–[15:08]
• Advice to Young Leaders: [15:19]–[15:30]
• Leadership Philosophy & Style: [16:39]–[18:07]
• Vision for Swiss: [18:17]–[18:48]

Closing Thoughts

Lorenzo Stoll stands as an exemplar of adaptive leadership, blending dedication with a fresh perspective from outside the airline industry. His story is about learning, humility, and purposeful, sequential change, rooted in passion and trust. The episode concludes with a simple, heartfelt endorsement—"Just keep on flying Swiss." [18:54]