KLM Handlers Strike Leads To Chaos In Amsterdam

KLM’s loading staff started an unexpected, temporary work stoppage on Saturday, which led to delays, cancellations, and diversions at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, just at the start of the May vacation period. Both KLM and the airport authorities have released statements addressing the subject. Let’s find out more.

An unexpected strike

Earlier this Saturday, at least 150 handler employees at KLM launched an unexpected strike as a protest regarding KLM’s attempt to outsource their work to Viggo, another handling company.

At 11:30 am, the Amsterdam Schiphol airport authorities released a statement that the terminal was too full due to a strike of employees at KLM. Schiphol's peak times for departures are between 07:00 and 10:00 every day.

The airport authorities said,

“Schiphol is calling on travelers not to come to the airport. For now, this applies to everyone with a flight until 3 pm. This is an extreme and very annoying measure that Schiphol has to take for safety reasons. Travelers with a question about their trip can contact their airline.”

A few hours later, the strike ended

After a few hours of the strike, KLM announced it had held discussions with the employees, and they agreed to resume work.

“As a result, we can slowly resume flight operations, and passengers will still be able to fly to their respective destinations. However, the work stoppage means that passengers may experience change, delays, or cancellations,” said KLM in a statement.

The airline added that it will continue discussions between the management board and the employees concerned, addressing topics like staff shortages, mounting work pressure, and job retention in the long term.

Meanwhile, Schiphol airport authorities released a new statement saying that travelers could come to the airport but advised them to be at Schiphol two hours in advance for European destinations and three for intercontinental destinations.

KLM’s flight schedule on a Saturday

Saturdays are among KLM’s most busy days. Moreover, this weekend marks the start of the May holiday period in the Netherlands.

In the period from April 23 to May 8, around 174,000 travelers will travel to, from, or via Schiphol each day. Although passenger numbers are still about 17% lower compared to 2019, crowd levels will not be lower than three years ago, said the airport authorities in a statement yesterday.

According to Cirium, KLM operates 134 departing flights from Schiphol on Saturdays, the busiest day of the week. It has flights to 82 destinations (Stockholm is the leading destination with five scheduled flights on Saturdays).

The loading staff strike meant a very unpleasant start to the holiday season that so many people have been looking forward to, said KLM.

The airline added,

“KLM would like to emphasize that the safety of its employees and passengers is always the top priority. Flight safety is never compromised. Even in this situation, the safety of employees and passengers was not compromised in any way whatsoever.

KLM understands that such a disruption at the start of the May holiday period has had a major impact on passengers and the workforce. KLM is making every effort to resume full operations as soon as possible in order to transport everyone to their respective destinations.”

On Saturdays, Amsterdam Schiphol has approximately 520 scheduled flights, according to Cirium. Besides KLM, other carriers operating at Schiphol today were Transavia, easyJet, TUIfly, Vueling, Delta, Air France, and British Airways.

Were you impacted by the handlers' strike on Saturday? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: De Telegraaf, Richard Schuurman.