It assumed Swissair's old ICAO code of SWR (Crossair's was CRX), to maintain international traffic rights.

Crossair later changed its name to Swiss International Air Lines, and the new national airline officially started operations on 31 March 2002.

The airline was initially owned by institutional investors (61.3%), the Swiss Confederation (20.3%), cantons and communities (12.2%), and others (6.2%).

[12] According to Marcel Biedermann, the managing director of intercontinental markets for Swiss, there were three possibilities: stay independent as a niche carrier, shrink to an unrecognisable level, or attach to another airline group.

After merging with KLM, Air France said they were too busy to deal with the Swiss joining them[dubious – discuss].

British Airways was open, and Oneworld partners thought Zurich Airport would be a viable alternative hub for London Heathrow.

On 3 June 2004, Swiss announced its decision not to join Oneworld because they did not want to integrate their current frequent flyer program into British Airways' Executive Club.

Furthermore, Swiss thought the relationship was one-sided, where British Airways sapped out the benefits of the airline, but they would get no return.

Swiss joined Star Alliance and became a member of Lufthansa's Miles and More frequent flyer program on 1 April 2006.

Following Lufthansa Group's takeover,[20] the regional fleet was changed from Crossair's Embraer ERJs, Saab 340s, and 2000s to Avro RJs, which were flown by a wholly owned subsidiary, Swiss Global Air Lines.

Swiss also renegotiated their supplier contracts, including ground handling, maintenance, food service, and labour.

In 2010, Swiss and Lufthansa were named in a European Commission investigation into price-fixing but were not fined due to acting as a whistleblower.

The use of Swiss state funds was criticized by some commentators because Swiss is a fully-owned subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa, making questions regarding its survival the responsibility of the German government, which had similarly lent a helping hand to Lufthansa during the pandemic.

[5] In June 2024, it was announced that Vranckx would step down by the end of the month and be replaced by German national and Lufthansa CityLine Managing Director, Jens Fehlinger.

[26] Fehlinger will assume office in October 2024, and until then Swiss will be temporarily led by Head of Commercial, Heike Birlenbach.

[26] On 16 January 2025, it was reported that Swiss will resume its flight operation to Tel Aviv from 1 February 2025.

[27] The key trends for Swiss International Air Lines are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):[28] Swiss International Air Lines has its operational headquarters at EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg[35][36] near Basel, Switzerland.

[45] Swiss previously operated a Swissbus service from Ottawa Railway Station to Montréal–Trudeau airport in Montreal.

[80] Swiss' first Airbus A220, then known as the Bombardier CS300, entered service on 1 June 2017, with its maiden commercial flight from Geneva to London–Heathrow.