Union says Schiphol staff faced aggression, extreme pressure during Jan. snow shutdown
Schiphol airport employees faced intimidation, physical aggression and "extreme working conditions" during severe winter weather in early January that paralyzed the airport, while managers and adequate support were largely absent, according to a union evaluation released this week. The findings also detail how workers were required to travel to the airport during a nationwide “code orange” weather warning, sometimes at the cost of vacation days if they could not make it in.
The assessment by FNV Luchtvaart is based on a survey of 190 security guards, cleaners and ground staff, many employed by KLM, following days of extreme snowfall that shut down the Netherlands’ main airport. More than 3,200 flights were canceled, leaving at least 300,000 passengers stranded and producing lines that stretched outside the departure hall.
According to the survey, three in 10 employees experienced intimidation or physical aggression from passengers, and nearly seven in 10 said they knew a colleague who had. More than two-thirds reported an extremely high workload during the disruption.
Passenger service employee Nicole van Unen said frontline staff were left exposed. “Passengers were furious and colleagues were standing on the front line, without any information or support,” she told AD. “There was shouting and threats. Some didn’t even dare to go home in uniform after their shift, out of fear of being attacked in the parking lot.”
The situation escalated repeatedly, prompting intervention by the Koninklijke Marechaussee. One employee reported that staff were escorted by car across the airside platform to a safe location because they were being harassed by desperate travelers. The union report also cites a fight in which one person was arrested. Employees said there were far too few Marechaussee officers present.
Interns and temporary workers were deployed as full staff during the peak of the chaos, according to the survey. Employees described themselves as a “shooting target.” One worker said transfer desks were closed and staff were not allowed to help passengers directly. “We had to hand out cards with QR codes linking to a website with no useful information,” the employee said, adding that this fueled anger even further.
Support from management was described as minimal. Many supervisors did not appear on the work floor until five days into the crisis, according to employees. Appreciation consisted of “a chocolate bar and a bottle of water,” the report said.
One worker complained that meals for passengers were not distributed until the seventh day, accompanied by “full photo sessions to show that meals were being handed out.”
Operational problems also included outdated equipment. Platform workers operated in freezing temperatures using old towing vehicles with broken heaters and tires with little tread. Several employees slipped on ice and were unable to continue working.
FNV campaign leader Jaap de Bie said the chaos was not an isolated event but the result of long-term decisions. “This is about choices that were made,” he said. “After the baggage chaos in 2022, Schiphol introduced some measures to improve working conditions at our urging. But under CEO Pieter van Oord, the emphasis appears to be back on controlling costs, under pressure from airlines.”
Schiphol and KLM have announced their own investigation into the snow disruption. FNV criticized the scope of that review. “They are looking at runways, de-icing and communication to passengers, but they are ignoring employees,” De Bie said. “An investigation begins and ends with them. Otherwise Schiphol remains vulnerable to disruptions with major impact.”
