Schiphol boss to discuss airport chaos with Dutch MPs

Schiphol CEO Dick Benschop will go to the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday to discuss the enormous crowds at the airport. He was invited by VVD and PvdA.

"A lot goes wrong at Schiphol, but we hear very little from the boardroom," said VVD member Daniel Koerhuis, who says he wants to ask the questions that "everyone has now.”

Those who travel via Schiphol have been dealing with queues for weeks, which are so long that some people have even missed their flights. Koerhuis wants to ask about this during the conversation with Benschop, he said. "How could this have gone so wrong and what is being done to solve it so that people can enjoy a carefree holiday this summer?"

The invitation also came from PvdA MP Habtamu de Hoop. He blames the problems on the working conditions and wages of the people handling the baggage. "Why is it not possible to pay Schiphol staff a decent wage, to give them a definite contract and to create good working conditions?" De Hoop asked.

Benschop was invited earlier this week and “he immediately responded positively,” according to the airport. He will face a number of critical MPs. Wybren van Haga, for example, has been calling for the resignation of the Schiphol CEO for some time. CDA MP Harry van der Molen told De Telegraaf, which was the first to write about the conversation with Benschop, that the Netherlands is "embarrassed.”

"The CDA expects Mr. Benschop to go to great lengths to get Schiphol back on course," Van Der Molen said.

Benschop faced criticism this week after it became apparent that he had been missing during many of the airport’s most chaotic moments. For example, on King’s Day, when the airport was forced to limit access to a terminal because of the crowds, the Schiphol CEO turned out to be celebrating with his family on a boat in The Hague. However, he later said he was absent because of Covid-19.

Benschop does not intend to resign because of the chaos at the airport. "I am not thinking about resigning. I am particularly motivated to solve everything," he said in an interview with ANP.