Transavia used trainees and interns as employees on flights

Budget airline Transavia put students in traineeships into positions where they were essentially full-fledged employees, the Labor Inspectorate concluded after an investigation. Dozens of students worked on flights as regular cabin crew members for an extended period of time while only receiving a low internship allowance.

The Labor Inspectorate initially did not disclose which airline was the subject of the allegation, but a spokesperson for Transavia confirmed that the Dutch budget airline was the focus.

These are trainees who were hired for an internship from February to June last year. They were given the same duties and responsibilities as a flight attendant and had the same work schedules. The Labor Inspectorate therefore established that there was an employment relationship, and that the students were underpaid in violation of the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act (Wml).

Last year, the Labor Inspectorate launched an investigation after several reports were filed about the company. It turned out that a total of sixty students from five different vocational education institutions were involved in the case. The internship for these students should have been dedicated to training and education, but in reality the internship was mainly aimed at working and not learning, the Inspectorate said.

The company will soon receive an official report from the Inspectorate that can include details of a fine or other sanctions. Furthermore, the company recently received a letter stating that it is obliged to pay the affected employees the back pay they are due within four weeks. This concerns both wages and holiday allowance. Transavia promised to make that payment, but would not disclose the total amount owed.

"In anticipation of the report about the investigation, the Labor Inspectorate has indicated in conversations with Transavia that our supervision of a group of cabin trainees in the summer of 2022 turned out differently than we had planned. We deeply regret this," the Air France-KLM subsidiary responded in a written statement. A spokesperson declined to comment further.

Transavia said it considers it important to allow MBO students to gain practical experience through internships in the cabin. "These internships were designed in consultation with the MBO schools and we made adjustments last year based on discussions with trainees and the MBO schools."