KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced that it will cut 250 staff members from the company as part of a drive to lower costs and save the carrier €450 million ($467million).
KLM President and CEO Marjan Rintel said that measures first revealed in October 2024, to structurally improve its financial and operational performance had resulted in “painful choices”.
KLM confirmed that the 250 employees work in non-operational roles and the airline’s Work Council and affiliated trade unions have been informed in advance.
“Our focus is 100% on laying a solid foundation for a healthy and future-proof KLM. A strong and competitive airline that is appreciated by customers and continues to connect the Netherlands with the rest of the world,” said Rintel in a statement on January 29, 2025.
Rintel added: “It is crucial for our future to structurally lower costs, which involves making painful choices. One of these measures is reducing the number of non-operational jobs, where we will try to avoid forced layoffs, although we cannot rule this out in advance.”
In other cost-saving measures, KLM previously announced it would postpone the construction of a new headquarters, as well as investments for two buildings in the Engineering and Maintenance division.
The airline is also taking steps to increase productivity by at least 5% and improve profitability.
Investments are also being reconsidered and postponed, and there is an ongoing exploration to divest or discontinue activities that do not directly contribute to its operations.
“We will approach this process with the utmost care, in close consultation with the Works Council. For operational jobs and positions that are difficult to fill in the current labor market, we will continue to recruit to maintain our operational capacity as much as possible,” explained the KLM CEO.
To increase pilot availability and ensure the schedule for European and intercontinental destinations for the upcoming summer and winter seasons can go ahead as planned, KLM has reached a preliminary agreement with the Dutch Airline Pilots Association VNV.
