Now we look forward to 2025 with great enthusiasm!

KLM agrees with Schiphol that improving the airport and better service for travellers are urgently needed. The state of maintenance of buildings and workplaces does not meet the needs of travellers and employees at Schiphol. KLM also supports efforts to reduce noise pollution and the use of tariff differentiation to encourage airlines to deploy quieter aircraft.

About KLM’s Delft Blue Houses 
Since the 1950s, KLM has been handing out Delft Blue Houses filled with Bols Jenever to World Business Class passengers on intercontinental flights. The houses are miniature versions of buildings in the Netherlands and abroad with a special history and are sought-after collector’s items. Since 1994, the number of houses has been in sync with the age of KLM. Since then, a new one has been added to the collection every year on KLM's birthday on October 7. 

KLM is taking these and other measures to maintain its network and services for customers and to protect jobs across the company as much as possible. The Works Council and trade unions have been informed by KLM of the (proposed) measures and objectives. They will continue to be engaged through the standard consultation process to reach final decisions. Specifically, this involvement includes: 

• Increasing labour productivity by at least 5% by 2025, including through automation, mechanisation and reducing absenteeism, 
• Measures to resolve the impact of the pilot shortage and ensure that we can operate all flights with our pilots, with a better balance between intercontinental and European flights, 
• Due to the shortage of technicians and ongoing supply problems of parts, KLM can operate fewer flights. Measures are being taken at Engineering & Maintenance to reduce the number of cancellations. If this does not yield sufficient results, options to partly outsource maintenance will be examined, 
• All investments (except those in (occupational) safety and compliance) will be reconsidered and postponed, such as the new headquarters and Engineering & Maintenance buildings. We will strive to maintain our fleet investments as much as possible, 
• Improvement of existing, and introduction of new products on board. Trials are underway with an expanded catering offer and optimisation of aircraft layout, aimed at increasing revenues by at least €100 million a year, 
• Measures to simplify the organisation, achieve more synergy, get rid of overlap and overhead. One example is the planned reorganisation of flight services and training organisations, 
• Finally, KLM will explore options for outsourcing, divesting or discontinuing activities that do not directly contribute to flight operations. 

In the virtual reality environment, the employee starts at home and then goes through a working day step by step: from handing in the luggage at the crew centre to the actual take-off of the aircraft, the work on board and the arrival at the hotel. The test shows that the VR glasses give colleagues more self-confidence and motivation to get back to work. The VR application is also used to investigate whether someone is really ready to go back to work, because it provides insight into whether and where the colleague gets stuck in the reintegration process. This helps with targeted treatment.

In addition to the fact that the VR glasses help to take the step to return to work earlier, it also appears that it contributes to sustainable employability. By enabling a targeted approach and gaining more self-confidence, colleagues are less likely to drop out again. The programme currently targets colleagues who work in the cabin, but KLM wants to expand the programme to make it more widely available.

KLM is continuously working on improving products and processes. Pioneering the use of VR glasses in the reintegration process therefore fits in well with the innovative character of the company.

Today, the cabinet decided to submit an amended package of measures in Brussels as part of the balanced approach procedure for reducing noise pollution around Schiphol. The outcome of this is a reduction with a bandwidth of 475,000 to 485,000 aircraft movements.

The package includes a significant reduction in noise at night through a combination of 5,000 fewer aircraft movements and measures such as deploying quieter aircraft as much as possible at night and banning noisy aircraft. This is expected to more than meet the noise target for the night.

It is important that the balanced approach process is completed carefully. It is positive that a number of measures from the broadly supported ‘cleaner, quieter, more efficient’ sector plan have been adopted. At the same time, KLM is concerned that the possible loss of historic slots could lead to retaliatory measures from other countries, resulting in the loss of connections important to the Netherlands as an international trading country.

KLM continues to renew its fleet and as a result, noise levels will further decrease in the coming years. We look forward to the European Commission’s assessment of the proposed measures with confidence so that a balanced package will soon be in place. This way we continue to connect the Netherlands with the rest of the world, in balance with the surroundings.

During the second quarter, operations were more stable and customers therefore experienced fewer disruptions thanks to a package of operational measures, including spare fleet availability and hiring of sufficient numbers of colleagues company wide.

The KLM Group posted operational results of €260 million for the second quarter of 2024 on revenues of €3.2 billion. The result falls short of expectations due to high costs.

Activities
Engineering & Maintenance welcomed a lot of new technicians and its recruiting drive continues unabated. Revenues in the first half of the year were higher than for the same period in 2023.

At Cargo, greater demand for goods transport is supporting the recovery in revenues and earnings. However, recovery is still under pressure due to global supply chain issues. In order to stabilise our network further, more reserve capacity has been built in resulting in reduced fleet deployment.

Transavia also recorded higher revenues in the first half of the year. Transavia managed to enable holidaymakers to travel affordably under difficult conditions, generating positive results in the second quarter. In total, close to 4.5 million passengers travelled with Transavia in the first six months of 2024.

• Pathfinder: A best-in-class schedule optimization tool, which empowers airlines to optimize their fleet and tail-assignment processes for robustness and cost in the days leading up to operations 
• Sentry & Runway: Two disruption management tools for the day of operations, which resolve major and minor operational disruptions for flight and crew schedules, and help minimize delay costs and disruption for passengers 
• CrewVision: A long-term cockpit and cabin crew resource management and planning tool, which calculates an optimal crew plan for the future, including hiring, training, and attrition 
• Terra: A tool designed to improve the resource allocation process for ground resources on the day of operations (DoO)—taking into account available resources, equal distribution of workload for employees (employee satisfaction), delay probability, delay costs, and enhanced task times based on a number of factors, such as actual load 

Proven Results 
The implementation of these solutions has led to improvements in KLM’s operations across functions, from boosting airline operational efficiency to enhancing airline disruption management to data driven integral resources planning. KLM has reduced non-performance costs and increased in value delivery within operations and delivered a strong ROI on the initiative. Staff at the Operations Control Center and other operational and network departments are performing with new levels of engagement, insights, confidence, and satisfaction. 

Since the partnership’s last extension in 2021, KLM and BCG have expanded their tailored solutions to other airlines. Today, the KLM-BCG partnership serves a prominent network of carriers of all sizes, business models, and geographies—such as point-to-point, single hub, and multi hub—and for both full-service and low-cost carriers.

12.00 (CET)
KLM announces that at this moment, limited air traffic is possible due to the global computer outage affecting various airlines and airports. This means that customers should expect delays and cancellations. We urge passengers not to come to the airport if their flight is not departing or is severely delayed. We understand that this causes significant inconvenience for our customers, especially now that the summer holiday season has just begun. KLM is working tirelessly to restore operations. We advise passengers to monitor the KLM.com website or the KLM app for the latest information regarding their flight.

9.30 (CET)
KLM, like other airlines and airports, has been affected by the global computer outage, making it impossible to handle flights. We realize that, especially given the summer vacations, this is extremely inconvenient for our customers. We are working hard to resolve the problem. For now, we are forced to suspend most of the operation.

KLM supports the Supreme Court's clearly substantiated ruling.

KLM wants to continue to connect the Netherlands with the rest of the world in balance with the environment. To this end, we have drawn up the cleaner, quieter and more fuel-efficient plan, which shows that the common goal of reducing noise pollution can be achieved without reducing the number of aircraft movements.

A major economic impact for national economies 

The study's findings highlight the major role played by the Air France-KLM Group in the economic dynamics of France – Air France's home country – and the Netherlands – KLM's home country. While in fiscal year 2023, the Air France-KLM Group generated a net income of 0.9 billion euros, its total economic impact is estimated at 48.9 billion euros in France and 21.9 billion euros in the Netherlands (or 723 euros per year per inhabitant in France and 1,228 euros per year per inhabitant in the Netherlands). The study concludes that for every euro invested, the Air France-KLM group generates 3.6 euros in the French economy, and 3.4 euros in the Dutch economy. 

These economic benefits take the form of direct investment, direct and indirect job creation, and spending with local suppliers and service providers. 

A driving force for employment in France and the Netherlands 

In addition to its economic and financial impact, the Air France-KLM Group also contributes significantly to the creation of skilled jobs that cannot be relocated. In 2022 and 2023, respectively, the various entities of the Air France-KLM Group recruited 4,000 and 5,000 permanent staff, namely pilots, flight attendants and mechanics. This dynamic will continue in 2024, particularly for pilots and aircraft maintenance activities. The Group is also particularly active in supporting access to employment for young people, through work-study programs and support for associations that promote inclusion. 

The impact study estimated that 552,570 jobs in France and 267,996 jobs in the Netherlands depended on Air France-KLM's activity, equivalent to the population of Lyon in France and Eindhoven in the Netherlands. These numbers include direct jobs (employees working directly for the Air France-KLM Group – around 46,000 in France and 26,000 in the Netherlands); indirect jobs (in related sectors such as suppliers, subcontractors, and service providers); as well as jobs induced by the Group's activity, for example in tourism. These jobs support the local economies of France and the Netherlands. 

Furthermore, the study highlights that each direct job created by the Group generates 11 additional jobs in France. In the Netherlands, the impact is also very positive: for every job created by the Group, 9.2 additional jobs are created in the Dutch economy. 

In France, shared benefits across all regions 

The socio-economic impact study shows that Air France-KLM's activity benefits all French regions, without exception. 

By way of example, in addition to strong air transport activity, the Occitanie region benefits from significant direct injections related to Air France-KLM’s purchasing of aircraft and aeronautical spare parts from Airbus, its subcontractors and service providers. Since 2018, Air France-KLM has ordered over 230 aircraft from Airbus, most of which are assembled in the Toulouse region. Air France also has a maintenance site in Toulouse. 

In the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Grand Est regions, Air France-KLM's contribution can be seen in its support for the wine industry, through purchases of wines, champagnes and spirits served on board Air France. In 2023, over 2.4 million bottles of wine and 1.3 million bottles of champagne were served on board Air France flights. 

The Île-de-France region remains the main beneficiary of the Group's impact. Thanks to the Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub and Paris-Orly airport, as well as the location of Air France’s and Transavia France’s headquarters, the Air France-KLM Group is a natural socio-economic catalyst for the Île-de-France region. Long the region's leading private sector employer, the Group contributes 3.2% of Île-de-France’s total GDP, for a total economic impact of nearly 25 billion euros. Representing 50% of the traffic at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports, the Air France-KLM Group is a driving force behind the region's connectivity and national and international appeal, supporting all links across the local economy, industry, and tourism. 

In the Netherlands, a global hub supporting all sectors of the economy

Air France-KLM’s contribution to the Dutch economy mainly takes the form of connecting the country to the world. KLM has built one of the world’s most effective transit hub at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport, connecting the Dutch capital to 160 destinations, far exceeding the natural potential of its home market. 

This makes the Netherlands one of the best-connected economic centres in the world, creating a favorable business climate for international organizations and corporations to establish or maintain their headquarters. 

Air France-KLM’s operations in the Netherlands also support Dutch exports, from flowers to medicines, notably via the Group’s cargo division, Air France-KLM Martinair Cargo. 

For more details, see Air France-KLM Group: a major socio-economic contributor to France and the Netherlands - nos engagements (foleon.com)

Note on methodology: 

The data in the impact study reflect the assessment of the socio-economic benefits of the Air France-KLM Group’s activity, which distinguishes four types of economic impact: 

- Direct impacts, including the remuneration of Air France-KLM Group staff working in their home region, as well as the Group's consumption of goods and services.

- Indirect impacts, resulting from the Air France-KLM group's activities, notably spending by passengers traveling on Group aircraft, as well as the economic activity of airports associated with the Group's activities. 

- Induced impacts, which are determined by the spending of the beneficiaries of direct and indirect impacts, including public bodies that benefit from tax revenue induced by the Air France-KLM group's activity. 

- Catalytic impacts, which represent the attractiveness of a given region for businesses, thanks to the Air France-KLM group's air traffic to the area. 

Fleet deployability was below par. Aircraft needed to spend longer in the hangar waiting for parts, affected by ongoing worldwide supply chain problems. KLM had to hire aircraft to accommodate the longer maintenance time, while the cost of concluding and extending aircraft leases has risen significantly due to global shortages. The costs associated with compensating and caring for passengers affected by disruptions can be added to this. KLM is also facing increased labour costs due to the collective agreements concluded last year, while we are not yet able to operate the corresponding capacity.

KLM has hired in more engineers and new pilots to catch up after the coronavirus pandemic, partly because additional pilots are needed in the cockpit on certain routes to Asia due to overflights to avoid Russia and the conflict in the Middle East.

KLM carried 7.5 million passengers in the first quarter. Transavia welcomed 1.8 million passengers on board.

Transavia generated greater revenues than in the first quarter of 2023. At the same time, like KLM, Transavia is facing rising costs. The engineering & maintenance division (E&M) also reported increased revenues in the first quarter, while cost increases remained almost unchanged. Cargo demand remained stable while revenues faced pressure.

Pierre-François Riolacci joined KLM's Supervisory Board in 2016. Stepping down at the end of his term, he is succeeded by Frédéric Gagey. Mr Gagey has more than earned his spurs in the airline industry, having served Air France, Air France-KLM and KLM in many roles, including Chief Financial Officer & Managing Director at KLM from 2005 to 2012.

On the recommendation of the Supervisory Board, the shareholders' meeting also appointed Bas Brouns as Chief Financial Officer. This makes Mr Brouns a member of KLM's Board of Managing Directors with immediate effect. He succeeds Erik Swelheim, who has stepped down at the end of his term.

KLM had to cancel flights in the fourth quarter due to limited runway capacity at Schiphol, caused by bad weather, and due to reduced fleet deployability. Rebooking and compensating customers, and hiring additional aircraft, increased costs. Geopolitical tensions also persisted, which meant that KLM continued to bypass Russian airspace. This led to a need for more pilots in the cockpit on some Asian flights. At Cargo, supply exceeded demand in the fourth quarter, which also put pressure on results.

These factors led to an operating loss of EUR 18 million in the fourth quarter, compared to an operating loss of EUR 2 million in 2022. Revenues in the fourth quarter amounted to EUR 3 billion, compared to EUR 2.8 billion in 2022.

More contented passengers
Thanks to the tremendous efforts of all KLM employees, customer satisfaction expressed in the net promoter score (NPS) rose from 37 to 39 in 2023. KLM carried 30.3 million passengers to their destinations in 2023. Transavia welcomed 8.9 million passengers aboard its flights and took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo in December. This innovative aircraft type will contribute to achieving the sustainability goals of the entire KLM Group.

At Engineering & Maintenance (E&M), hundreds of new employees were recruited to address staff shortages and we will continue hiring in 2024. Revenues continued to recover at E&M in 2023.

At Cargo, revenues have returned to pre-Covid levels, but they are coming under pressure due to the slowdown in global trade.

KES, a wholly-owned KLM subsidiary, handles the maintenance, fleet management and refuelling/recharging of vehicles and equipment required for ground handling at Schiphol. KES is also owner of the ground power units (GPUs) used by airlines to supply aircraft with electricity on the ground at Schiphol.

KES employs around 100 people, who will retain their current terms and conditions of employment. KES’s refuelling activities will be transferred to KLM Ground Services, meaning eight KES employees will transfer to KLM.

TCR International NV is a Belgium-based company, which earns annual revenue of around EUR 250 million and employs more than 1,500 people. It has a global presence in the GSE market, focusing on equipment maintenance, leasing and pooling services. TCR has a branch in the Netherlands (TCR NL), which already provides KLM with maintenance and leasing services. TCR has the means and scale to invest in the development of KES. KLM will remain a KES customer.

No further details will be released regarding the purchase price.

From left to right: Patrice de Hemptinne, General Counsel TCR, Erik de Harder, Director Benelux/Nordics TCR, Erik Swelheim, CFO KLM, Roeland Pompen, Director Holdings M&A KLM, Bruno Vanpoucke, Commercial Director TCR, Tom Bellekens, CEO TCR, Andrea van Sleen, KLM Legal, John de Hollander, VP Finance KLM Ground Services

Among other things, they will examine how passengers can be made more effectively aware of the consequences of their behaviour. They will also examine how staff can be better trained to deal with such incidents. In May, a digital report form was introduced to enable staff to more easily report unruly passengers. Anyone who misbehaves on an aircraft or on the ground needs to be dealt with effectively and it’s important for staff in the aircraft and the departure hall to be aware of the options at their disposal.

Sharing no-fly lists more widely
Airlines keep no-fly lists of passengers who have misbehaved on their aircraft, at Schiphol Airport or at the outdoor stations. The signatories will also be investigating if such information could be shared between all Dutch airlines, subject of course to applicable legislation governing privacy. Within the KLM Group, KLM and Transavia have been sharing passenger data for individuals placed on the no-fly list for unacceptable behaviour on the ground and/or on board since 2022. Passengers are banned from flying with either airline at least for five years if they misbehave on a Transavia or KLM flight.

Huge increase in the number of unruly passengers
KLM has seen a 100% increase in unruly passenger numbers compared to 2019. An average of 30 unruly passengers a month were recorded in 2023, compared to an average of 15 in 2019. Around 60% of the incidents took place on board, with 40% in the depature hall. In more than half of these cases, alcohol played a role.

The parties involved
The letter of intent was signed by Royal Schiphol Group NV, Transavia, KLM, TUI, Corendon Dutch Airlines, the Royal Marechaussee and the public prosecutor’s office. The Netherlands is the third country in Europe to sign a declaration such as this, following the example of Norway and Ireland. The issue features more widely on the international agenda, also at European and international airline organisations including EASA and IATA.

The study aims to help the aviation industry make the work in baggage handling halls lighter, for instance. In addition to the already planned actions to install lifting aids everywhere in the short term, the parties want to investigate how digital innovation can support physical work activities. 

In the coming months, five researchers, supervised by Professor David Abbink (Professor of Haptic Human-Robot Interaction and Scientific Director of FRAIM), will conduct research in the baggage handling halls. Together with the baggage handlers, they will shape the future of this type of work. Even with the application of digital innovations, the future of this work will still revolve around the balance between humans and machines. The baggage handlers therefore have an essential role to play: their observations, wishes and experiences hold sway. 

“We need to learn from the experts in the workplace what is important to them in their work and what they would like to see done differently”, says Professor Abbink. “The members of our research team have different backgrounds, which enables us to try to expose each other’s blind spots, so that we can learn more together than we would individually. That is essential to be able to explore different possible solutions with and for the experts: technical, social or organisational.”

Harm Josephi, Vice President of Baggage Services at KLM adds: “KLM and Schiphol have long been leading the way all over the world in terms of reducing physical strain in baggage handling. But there’s always room for improvement. By working together with Schiphol and Delft University of Technology, we are taking new steps to make working in baggage areas physically less demanding. This collaboration will facilitate improvements that can eventually be implemented at airports around the world. That’s something we can be proud of in the Netherlands.”

“Every workplace in the baggage handling hall will have a properly functioning lifting aid by April 2024, which must be used by all employees. At the same time, we are also working on the next step for the period after this: automation of physical work. Even in an automated baggage handling hall, employees will still have an important role. We are shaping the future of work and how the role of people will change in it. The study will help us shape that together with employees”, according to Dennis van Kleef, who is responsible for baggage at Royal Schiphol Group.

Broad perspectives
The researchers from various universities who are coming together in TU Delft FRAIM have diverse backgrounds in design, psychology, organisational change, robotics and logistics. This broad perspective allows them to assess the impact of technical innovations early, accelerated by innovation expertise from TU Delft's field lab RoboHouse. The fact that this research is not done in a lab, but rather in the baggage halls with the people who work there, ensures crucial cooperation between baggage workers and researchers, and therefore realistic, actionable outcomes. Schiphol, KLM and TU Delft believe that this approach will really move things forward.

The study will have been successful when a new way of working is developed together with baggage hall employees. If all goes well, the collaboration will become a long-term partnership to make this groundbreaking way of working a reality.

The study being done by TU Delft is part of the plan that all parties involved in baggage handling at Schiphol have presented to lighten the work in the baggage halls. The parties involved will be following through with these plans. Future renovations of the existing baggage halls will be developed using the knowledge and results from the research.

KLM welcomed 8.4 million passengers on board during the third quarter, which includes the summer holiday season. Similarly, Transavia carried around 2.9 million travellers. 

9M figures 

Operational profits amounted to €668 million for the first nine months of the year against a turnover of €9.058 billion. During the same period in 2022, operational profits amounted to €708 million (including €138 million under the governmental emergency job-retention scheme – NOW) against a turnover of €7.921 billion.  

Cargo demand dropped following its peak during the pandemic. Engineering & Maintenance is still experiencing worldwide supply chain problems, but is performing in line with expectations. Transavia performed very well during summer, serving to offset losses caused by fleet problems earlier this year.