KLM is committed to a safe and pleasant work environment and does not tolerate inappropriate behavior. If the investigation reveals that such conduct or other inappropriate behavior has occurred, measures will be taken.

Our primary concern is now for colleagues who are currently experiencing, or have previously experienced inappropriate conduct. They can contact a team of KLM experts, to file a complaint or to receive help if needed. Each complaint will be handled carefully and confidentially. 

FNV and CNV consider the proposal a negotiation result and will be presenting it to their respective membership bases. De Unie, NVLT and VKP have indicated that they consider KLM’s proposal as its final proposal. This means these unions will inform us if they consider it a negotiation result. KLM hopes that this will soon lead to an agreement with all five ground unions.

The final proposal includes a wage increase effective 1 September 2023 of an amount of €135 gross per month and, effective 1 October 2023, a wage increase of 6%. There will also be a one-off payment of €500 in January 2024. In July 2024, a further increase of 3% will follow and in January 2025, depending on inflation trends, an increase of between 0% and 2%. Bolstered by these wage increases, the minimum wage for KLM Ground Personnel will increase to a level of above €16 an hour during the agreement’s term from 2 March 2023 through 28 February 2025.

KLM will also take further measures to prevent employees from becoming overloaded and will be reintroducing the temporary part-time pre-retirement scheme (also known as the “80-90-100 scheme”). This will enable those employees carrying out the most physically taxing work to retire earlier. The bridging allowance will also make it easier to switch to less physically demanding work.

Barry ter Voert joined KLM as a management trainee 26 years ago. Having held a wide array of positions in the commercial domain, he was most recently vice president of Revenue Management and senior vice president for Europe at Air France-KLM. "I am looking forward to working with KLM colleagues to strengthen the KLM brand and further enhance customer experience. I am also very conscious of the challenge we face to develop a sustainable business model that meets the changing requirements of our customers and other stakeholders." Ter Voert will head the departments of Mainport Strategy, Fleet Development, Network Planning, Alliances, Customer Experience and Information Services.

Miriam Kartman has participated in board meetings for some time. She brings a wealth of HR experience to the board, gained at various divisions and in the operational domain (OCC and Inflight Services). Her new appointment as CPO will augment the team and formalise the current way of working. “We are on the right track, but we are still facing significant personnel challenges. The KLM of the future needs its crew of around 30,000 more than ever before. These people make KLM what it is and we want to continue to be an attractive employer for each and every one of them. My teams and I will be focussing on various major themes in the coming years. This includes the challenges of staff recruitment and retention in today's tight job market, as well as making the workplace more inclusive and addressing the question of how we can employ our people better, longer and more enjoyably. I am looking forward to taking this role on the board and am confident that we will take the right steps together."

Marjan Rintel: “We have taken major steps in recent years and have worked on building the KLM of the future. Now our board of directors is complete, we can continue and accelerate on our journey."

Non-statutory directors  

The board of (statutory) directors currently consists of CEO Marjan Rintel, COO Maarten Stienen and CFO Erik Swelheim. The two new directors will be non-statutory directors.   

Royalty free photos of Barry ter Voert and Miriam Kartman

The Supervisory Board will also nominate Maarten Stienen to the General Meeting of Shareholders for appointment to the Board of Management of KLM. For this purpose an extraordinary general meeting will be convened. The Works Council of KLM will be asked for advice on this nomination.

KLM has ensured that the new CLA takes account of price developments in the Netherlands. A wage clause specifying a 2% increase effective 1 October 2022 and further 2% effective 1 March 2023 has been agreed. This reflects agreements recently reached with the trade unions representing ground personnel.

We also reached an agreement with VNV on productivity and flexibility in the coming period.

The existing international commuting arrangement for pilots has been discontinued. Pilots who live outside the Netherlands will now pay for their flights when commuting to work.

KLM employees will receive one-off payment when KLM no longer has a credit facility with government guarantees. This payment acknowledges the concerted effort made by KLM staff in the face of recent challenges.

Despite KLM’s successful recovery, the future remains uncertain due to factors such as high inflation, rising costs, uncertainties surrounding coronavirus and scarcity in the job market. KLM must therefore continue to cut costs structurally. The negotiating parties agreed to return to the table if the situation so demands in the coming period.

Changing circumstances at KLM 
It was no easy task to arrive at this result together, because the circumstances at KLM are complex and recovery is fragile. Nevertheless, KLM has, in the recent past, managed to repay all its loans to the government, thereby confirming that we are on our way to restoring our financial health.

All KLM staff adopted a flexible and resilient attitude throughout the pandemic, displaying immense loyalty and commitment in contributing to KLM’s recovery under difficult circumstances. It is important to offer them a better outlook in the current, drastically changed situation.

Soaring inflation, declining purchasing power, high work pressure and the tightening labour market are the latest circumstances demanding a response from KLM. That is why they have been offered a salary increase of 2% effective 1 October 2022 and a further 2% effective 1 March 2023. A minimum of EUR 80 has been set for both increases, to ensure that the financial position of those on lower incomes is strengthened.

Agreements with KLM’s predicament in mind
These agreements will restore stability to our organisation and offer better perspectives to (future) staff. Recovery is fragile, however, and the near future will remain difficult to predict for KLM, owing to high inflation, rising costs and dollar exchange rates, the ongoing presence of the coronavirus, and the war in Ukraine. It is therefore important for KLM to retain access to loans from the government and banks (i.e. credit facilities).

This is why KLM must continue its efforts to structurally reduce costs. If circumstances change in the coming period, causing KLM to slip into crisis once more, we will return to the negotiating table with the trade unions.

In the last 2 years, during the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, Harm Kreulen and his team have worked hard under difficult circumstances and restructured KLM Benelux to be ready for a structural recovery with new challenges towards the future. These challenges will be taken up by Bas Gerressen, who will succeed Harm Kreulen as of 1 October.

Bas Gerressen, currently SVP North America, will return to the Netherlands this summer. He has been with KLM since 1999 and has gained extensive commercial experience in previous positions including Sales Manager Business Market Netherlands, Commercial Director Gulf Region, Head of Commercial Planning and General Manager China. Of his 22 years of service, Bas Gerressen spent 11 years working abroad, where he worked closely with several key partners including Delta Air Lines.

“Virtual Reality (VR) makes training more accessible. It is on-demand and site-independent – pilots don’t have to be in a classroom or a simulator at a certain time. What’s more, it invites them to explore, something they can do safely in a virtual environment,” says Sebastian Gerkens, Senior Instructor Embraer at KLM Cityhopper. “VR allows pilots to familiarise themselves with the cockpit in advance, so that they make more effective use of their simulator time.”

The new training approach will also generate cost savings, among other things because it cuts down on the number of external suppliers and makes pilot scheduling more flexible.

Three applications

The VR training courses for the Embraer 175 and 190 were developed by KLM’s own VR experts in cooperation with KLM Cityhopper. Training consists of three applications, all part of the Type Rating Course in which pilots learn the specific characteristics of the aircraft type they are going to fly.

1. Virtual cockpit –  the pilot is inside the cockpit, i.e. an interactive, computer-generated image of the control panels. 
2. Instruction video –  the pilot watches a 360-degree POV video of a flight from the cockpit jump seat. 
3. Virtual walkaround – the pilot walks through and around the aircraft, composed of 360-degree static photographs. 

“These are also the three different ways to capture content used to create VR applications,” explains Werner Soeteman, manager of the VR Centre Of Excellence at KLM IT. “The interactive virtual cockpit was created on computers entirely by our team of VR developers and 3D designers. To produce the 360-degree video and photographs, one of our VR engineers sat in the cockpit operating an advanced 360-degree camera during a flight, in close cooperation with the KLM Cityhopper pilots. Our developers haven’t the faintest idea how an Embraer works, although they’ve certainly learned a lot.”

EASA certification

KLM has been long been interested in using VR in staff training. For example, it already has VR training courses for maintenance engineers and KLM Cityhopper cabin crew. Now the Embraer 175 and 190 pilots are joining this select company.

The VR courses complement KLM’s existing training programme. KLM Cityhopper is exploring whether it can obtain EASA certification for these courses, which would then eventually replace some of the standard training components, such as classroom instruction, the cockpit poster and textbooks. The safety and quality of training is and naturally always will be top priority.

The 2020 Voluntary Resignation Scheme (2020 VRS) will be open for registration to all KLM employees from 1 June and anticipates on necessary next steps. The new scheme could create more room for KLM employees who remain in service, therefore limiting forced redundancies as far as possible in the future. KLM would rather bid farewell to employees who choose to do so themselves, as opposed to colleagues who do not voluntarily choose to do so.

82 million users

LINE is a social media platform. It offers voice, video, and chat communication between users, domestically, internationally, and across telecommunication providers. LINE has 82 million active users in its Japanese home market. Most users are from 15 to 34 years old.

KLM on social media

KLM has been a pioneer in social media services and campaigns since 2009. We have more than 28 million friends and followers on a variety of social media. Through these channels, KLM receives more than 180,000 messages a week, 35,000 of which are questions or comments. The world’s largest social media team, consisting of 360 service staff, respond to the messages personally. KLM offers 24/7 customers support on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, WeChat, KakaoTalk and LINE in Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. KLM was the world’s first airline to offer its customers flight documents and status updates via WhatsApp, Messenger, and Twitter. What’s more, it was the first western airline to use the Chinese social media channel WeChat.

Any questions or looking for more information about KLM on social media? Discover all KLM’s social services on social.klm.com.

We regret this situation and will do our utmost to make our customers' journeys as pleasant as possible.

The new jet bridge is equipped with smart technology, including cameras on the bridge that recognise the aircraft door and sensors that help it connect to the aircraft door. A KLM employee will activate the bridge and supervise the process.

“The fully automatic double passenger bridge at Schiphol is a great innovation and can make a real difference,” says René de Groot, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at KLM. “KLM is proud to have contributed to its development. The bridge can connect up within one minute, and that means shorter waiting times for our customers. What’s more, the innovation will contribute to our punctuality and reduce the risk of breakdowns. All of this will ensure an even better customer experience.”

“I am proud that the world’s first fully automatic double-decker passenger bridge is going into operation at Schiphol,” says Dick Benschop, CEO of Royal Schiphol Group. “Innovation helps us improve quality so we can make the airport as comfortable and efficient as possible for passengers and airlines alike.”

In order to continue operating as many flights as possible despite the industrial actions, it will not be possible to carry hold baggage on European flights arriving or departing from Schiphol on Wednesday, 18 September 2019 between 12:45 hours and 17:00 hours (CET). We are also urging our passengers to limit the volume of their hand luggage as far as possible in case they are prevented from carrying it with them on the European flights due to space constraints.

In so doing, KLM hopes to limit the impact of the strike on its customers. A no-charge rebooking policy has been established for passengers who do not wish to travel without hold baggage.

The passengers affected will be approached directly by KLM and will be rebooked on alternative flights. We therefore advise our passengers to keep a close eye on the information published on the KLM Website and/or the KLM App.

"It is not easy to leave Transavia, it is such a great company! Fortunately, I am leaving behind a healthy organisation with a very strong team that can face the future with confidence. But at this stage of my life I don't want to let the opportunity that now arises pass me by", says Mattijs ten Brink.

Dave del Canho, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Transavia: "The fact that Mattijs is leaving Transavia now, came as a surprise, but personal development and change fit well with the culture of Transavia. So this step too. We are extremely grateful to Mattijs for the important contribution he has made to our company over the past six years."

Pieter Elbers, president and CEO of KLM, former Supervisory Board member of Transavia: "We regret that Mattijs is leaving the KLM Group. Under the leadership of Mattijs, Transavia has in recent years developed strongly into a financially sound company with an important role and deepened cooperation with the KLM Group. Of course we respect his choice and wish Mattijs success."

Mattijs will stay until the end of September and transfer his duties to the other members of the Transavia management team. The Transavia Supervisory Board has started, in close cooperation with the shareholder KLM, the replacement process.

Runners completed a course of 5 or 10 kilometres in the woodlands of the Amsterdamse Bos, ending at the KLM Head Office in Amstelveen. More than 1,500 KLM employees and around 1,000 of their local and international aviation colleagues took part in the run.

KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers, who is a great fan of running, also took part in the event, proudly wearing No. 100. He completed the run on his special-edition ASICS KLM100 running shoes, which were recently launched.

From hats to pleated skirts and from women’s trousers to gloves – the KLM uniform has seen many faces since 1935. “But it has always been elegant and stylish,” says Cliff Muskiet, KLM purser and initiator of the airborne fashion show. This was clearly seen during the catwalk in the sky, when crew members showed off uniforms from 1957 to the present day. While the show mainly featured KLM clothing, there were also examples from KLC and NLM, all from Cliff’s private collection. Cliff Muskiet is a true enthusiast, with a collection of 1,577 different uniforms in plastic boxes, stored at home, containing uniforms from 563 airlines.

Start the show

The passengers were informed about the unique fashion show at the start of the flight and they responded enthusiastically. Muskiet: “At a certain point, the voice of our senior purser resounded through the cabin. He also works for a radio station and therefore had the perfect voice to accompany the models and tell the passengers about the history of the uniforms. Of course, safety on board came first throughout the event.”

Muskiet also chose all the garments for the show. “It seemed like a great idea in the run-up to our 100th anniversary to give our passengers an opportunity to see KLM’s different uniforms over the years. But, in this case, worn by our own colleagues of course! Changing and taking care of the make-up was very exciting, given the limited amount of space available on board. All things considered, everything went on very well.”

From Nina Ricci to Mart Visser

The fashion show in the sky tied in nicely with the World Fashion Week that kicks off next week in New York. But it also speaks for itself because there is much to tell about the history of the KLM uniforms. “Few people know that we have only been wearing the current – and very recognisable – blue colour since 1971,” says Cliff Muskiet. “And famous designers such as Nina Ricci and Mart Visser have often worked on them. It’s great that crew and passengers responded so enthusiastically. It was certainly a special event in the run-up to KLM’s 100th anniversary!”

The passengers were so enthusiastic that they even gave the crew a round of applause on arrival at the airport in New York.

KLM and running

The partnership with ASICS, a highly popular running brand, is a logical step in KLM’s commitment to running. Since the end of 2018, KLM has been title sponsor of the Urban Trail Series and co-sponsor of the Dam to Dam Run and TCS Amsterdam Marathon. KLM supports running because it is healthy, easily accessible to all and an excellent way to explore the world, both close to home and during a business trip or holiday.

The ASICS KLM100 running shoe

The ASICS KLM100 running shoe was specially designed for KLM’s 100^th anniversary by ASICS as a limited edition of 5,000 pairs, which KLM staff were allowed to pre-order. This shoe is based on the ROADHAWK FF2 model, but is rendered in KLM blue, with orange accents. As of today, the shoe will be available to the general public in limited quantities via the ASICS webshop as well as the ASICS flagship stores in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Staff on the move

As one of the biggest commercial employers in the Netherlands, KLM feels it is important to devote attention to health. That is why we urge our staff to keep fit by way of coaching, working and the KLM running programme. Every year, around 1,200 KLM employees take part in the Dam to Dam Run.

Optimum working environment

The new location at Schiphol-East reflects KLM’s strategy for the future. Blue Base will offer KLM staff an optimum working environment and climate, in which connectivity will be the key theme. This will enable staff and teams to cooperate even more easily, pleasantly, efficiently and effectively. The campus will revolve around customers, staff, sustainability and innovation. The intended location will ensure that office staff are close to KLM operations, working in more pleasant, modern surroundings, where KLM’s ambitions can be optimally fulfilled.

Extensive research

The choice to relocate is based on extensive research, during which all options were carefully explored. A costly renovation of KLM’s current head office in Amstelveen, which would require extensive reconstruction, was not a logical solution.

Having now made a choice, the Blue Base project team has begun further designing and shaping the new location. KLM staff are being actively involved in preparing the plans. After all, Blue Base is where they will be working, meeting and developing as of 2024.

KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) have launched a joint venture, NUVEON, for the development of new Augmented Reality (AR) products for MRO (maintenance, repair & overhaul). NUVEON will integrate AR throughout the MRO chain to improve everyday performance in maintenance. The new partnership was signed at the Paris Airshow by Olaf Hoftijzer, Director Training E&M KLM, and Marja Eijkman, Division Manager Aerospace Operations, Royal NLR.

After a successful pilot, KLM E&M and NLR are now developing several maintenance training applications using Hololens AR goggles. The advantages have proven numerous, it makes training more attractive, more effective and more efficient. Trainees are actively involved in the instruction session, get a better insight into how the system works and are better able to put what they have learned into practice. And a virtual aircraft is available any place, any time. In addition to the development of further training applications, applications using combinations of different AR/VR devices are studied, as well as remote access through Maintenance Control Centres (MCC), visualization of complex 3D data and more.

In NUVEON, NLR is developing Augmented Reality applications and didactic concepts, and KLM E&M is delivering the subject matter experts and the commercial activities for the augmented reality technology for MRO aircraft maintenance applications. NUVEON aims to address MRO related companies that seek to improve and make their aircraft and aircraft components more efficient and more effective.

Cees Pronk is extremely enthusiastic about the extension of KLM’s ongoing relationship. “We’re especially proud that Le Champion can continue its partnership with KLM,” he says. “Together with KLM, we are committed to supporting a healthy and active society. It’s great that KLM is choosing the Dam tot Damloop to encourage its employees to exercise as much as possible.”

Fifty thousand runners

On Sunday 22 September 2019, fifty thousand runners will have the opportunity to participate in the thirty-fifth edition of the Dam tot Damloop, one of the largest business runs in the world. The unparalleled atmosphere, the run through the IJtunnel under Amsterdam Harbour, and the fact that the start and finish are in two different cities, all make this event so special.

The previous day, Saturday 21 September, will see the equally atmospheric Dam tot Dam Walking Tour. Walkers can choose from distances of 10 kilometres, 20 kilometres, 27 kilometres, and 42 kilometres. For the first time this year, KLM will have at least four hundred employees participating.

Eight finalists, all of whom were cockpit and cabin crew, battled it out in this third edition of the KLM Cooking Contest. Folkert Stikvoort’s winning dish will be served to World Business Class passengers from January 2020, probably for a period of three months.

The panel of judges included Roel Verwiel, head of the panel and chairman of KLM Foodies; Jonnie Boer, chef at the Librije; Bart van Olphen, cooking book writer and founder of sustainable fish brand Fishtales; and Miriam Kartman, executive vice president of KLM Inflight Services.

Partnership with De Librije

KLM has a longstanding partnership with Jonnie en Thérèse Boer of three-star restaurant De Librije in Zwolle for World Business Class meals and the selection of appropriate wines. Jonnie en Thérèse also own Librije’s Winkel, Librije’s Hotel and the cooking and wine school Librije’s Atelier.

The Randstad Award is presented annually to the most attractive employer in the Netherlands. More than 17,000 Dutch, between the ages of 18 and 65, were given a choice of 471 Dutch companies. The research asked employed and unemployed people to judge employers on points that included: primary and secondary terms of employment, career prospects, job security, and atmosphere at work.

Aart Slagt, executive vice president HR & Industrial Relations KLM: “I am extremely proud to receive this award and I accept it on behalf of all my colleagues at this wonderful company. We are able to stay in the lead of the international airline industry by making the most of everyone's individual capacities. And that's what makes the difference in our industry. We are extremely lucky to have such fantastic ambassadors."

Marjolein ten Hoonte – director Employment Market and CSR Randstad Group and Aart Slagt - executive vice president HR & Industrial Relations KLM

TripAdvisor Award Best Business Class – Europe and Travellers’ Choice Major Airline – Europe

KLM also received two TripAdvisor Awards today. TripAdvisor is the largest travel review website in the world with more than 661 million reviews, including airlines. KLM won the TripAdvisor Award Best Business Class - Europe and the award Travellers’ Choice Major Airline – Europe. Both prizes resulted from all the reviews of KLM that millions of travellers left on the TripAdvisor website.

Pieter Groeneveld, senior vice president Digital: “This is a wonderful acknowledgement of our service, which we are continually improving to ensure our passengers have a 'memorable experience'. We are delighted with this award."

Left to right: Olaf Stokman, director Customer Experience KLM, Bryan Saltzburg, president Flights & Crews TripAdvisor, Pieter Groeneveld, senior vice president Digital

FNV Cabin Crew has notified KLM that 56% of its membership base voted against the agreement in principle.

Previously, the biggest trade union, VNC, which represents more than 70% of all cabin crew, did vote in favour of the new collective labour agreement. A limited majority of FNV Cabin Crew’s membership base, which represents around 15% of all cabin crew, has now voted against the agreement. FNV Cabin Crew has informed KLM that it will now discuss the outcome. KLM will do the same. KLM nonetheless hopes that FNV Cabin Crew will sign the collective labour agreement, thus concluding a particularly difficult period.

The agreement provides a firm foundation on which we can join hands in building a healthy future for KLM, which is good for staff as well as passengers.

We hope that FNV members will also embrace the plan, considering that the new agreement with the VNC has close similarities to the demands previously expressed by the FNV Cabine trade union.

In KLM's opinion, the proposal is balanced, offering advantages for everyone while at the same time requiring everyone to contribute. KLM expects this to conclude the long period of uncertainty for its cabin crew members and for KLM.