KLM to announce reorganization plans on Friday
KLM will reveal more details of its upcoming reorganization on Friday morning, along with the airline's financial figures for the first half of 2020. Reorganization was one of the conditions the Dutch government set for the 3.4 billion euros aid package granted to KLM to help it through the coronavirus crisis, NU.nl reports.
For the aid package, the government set the condition that KLM must cut costs by 15 percent across the board. According to the airline's annual report, costs amounted to 9.1 billion euros last year. Which means the airline has to implement 1.3 billion euros in budget cuts.
Part of those cuts will land among the staff. KLM will cut both workforce and salaries, according to the newspaper. The government said that KLM employees who earn more than three times the average income must accept salary cuts of at least 20 percent. Workers who earn less may also face salary cuts.
In May, KLM already said that it had to reduce its work force and opened a voluntary departure scheme for personnel. By mid-July, some 2,400 employees had registered for the severance scheme. Whether all of them will get it, is not yet clear. KLM currently employees 33 thousand people.
The final reorganization plan will be announced in October.