Bucher Leichtbau celebrates 70th birthday

This year, Bucher Leichtbau AG celebrates its 70th birthday. “As an outstanding example of Swiss pioneering, the company, founded by Heinrich Bucher, has evolved from a modest craftsman’s workshop into an international leader in cabin and rescue equipment for the aerospace industry”, as the company from the Zurich Oberland region, the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zurich, writes in a press release. Today, the Group, which is structured into three companies, employs just under 170 people at its headquarters in Fällanden in the canton of Zurich alone. Bucher Leichtbau specializes in components and designs for aviation, cabin equipment, rail transport and helicopter rescue equipment.

At present, Bucher Leichtbau is led in its third generation by Beat Burlet, although its roots originally extend back to the time when Heinrich Bucher founded the company. The master tinsmith at Swissair had, by 1953, specialized in the repair and maintenance of onboard kitchens. Heinrich Bucher’s wife, Ida, was the first employee of the company, which at this time was still operating out of an old garage.

Following the death of Heinrich Bucher in 1992, control of the company was transferred to his three children. Under this second-generation management, the company was transformed into a joint stock company (AG). In addition to Swissair, the press release explains that by this time Bucher Leichtbau had already secured additional airlines as customers, including Scandinavian Airlines, Lufthansa, and Austrian Airlines, in addition to a presence in the proximity of the Boeing Everett Factory in Washington State, USA.

However, in this milestone year, the company is not merely focusing on the past. Rather, as Bucher Leichtbau writes in the press release, its sights are firmly fixed on the future, with designs on developing “ground-breaking solutions for aviation, cabin equipment, rail transport, and helicopter rescue equipment in the coming years”. ce/hs