Flight delays and cancellations persist as KLM tries to get baggage to customers

Some travelers who flew with KLM on Saturday are still waiting for their suitcases. A strike among ground personnel on Saturday disrupted the flight schedule. Hundreds of bags got left behind at the airport. The problems seeped through to Monday, resulting in delays and cancellations. KLM says it is working hard to make up the backlog.

According to a KLM spokesperson, the airline canceled a number of flights on Monday. Several airplanes had to divert to the airports of Rotterdam and Groningen due to capacity problems and crowds at Schiphol. These planes will have to fly back to Amsterdam at some point. This also created new delays.

Trade unions blamed the strike and resulting chaos on the Dutch airline. Ground staff has been struggling with staff shortages for some time, with consequences for the workload. When KLM informed staff that some of their work would be outsourced to a competing handling company, that added fuel to the fire and sparked the strike, unions said to De Telegraaf. The management of KLM is expected to speak with trade unions this week.

The airline will have to come up with "something good" if it wants to avoid problems like this weekend, FNV director David van de Geer said. If the unions and airline can't reach an agreement, new actions seem inevitable. 

About 150 KLM employees held a strike on Saturday, causing chaos at Schiphol. Some 90 flights were canceled because cargo and luggage weren't loaded onto planes. The work stoppage caused massive queues. Due to the crowds, the airline at one point asked travelers not to come to the airport. The entrances and exits of the A4 highway to Schiphol were also closed for a time.

According to Van de Geer, FNV has now been given the mandate to negotiate on behalf of staff. Where necessary, staff will try to get improvements with "classic union work" regularly, the FNV director said, referring to more actions. 

KLM was not part of the collective labor agreement signed by six other handlers at Schiphol. The collective agreement states that staff must get at least 14 euros per hour. KLM pays 11.80 euros per hour. Van der Geer added that the employment conditions are generally better at KLM than at other handling companies, with KLM staff getting allowances and pension accrual. "But KLM has to watch out," he warned. "The solution is not in hiring more flex workers or hiring competing handlers."

The trade union believes that KLM's dependence on state aid due to the coronavirus crisis does not have to make a difference in increasing ground staff's wages. The crisis has kept salaries frozen for two years now. With rising inflation, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people with lower wages to make ends meet. This puts KLM in a difficult position. On the one hand, it has to cut costs. On the other, it has to invest to keep things going.