Former KLM CEO got nearly €1.4 mil for wage, transition allowance last year

The former CEO of airline KLM, Pieter Elbers, received almost 1.4 million euros last year. That consisted of nine months’ salary totaling 480,543 euros and a transition payment of 894,214 euros, according to the airline’s annual report.

KLM also had to pay 619,100 euros in taxes on the severance payment, according to the report that the Telegraaf first wrote about.

In October last year, the court ruled that Elbers was entitled to a severance payment after his departure from the airline. He was also entitled to deferred bonuses from the period before KLM received state aid due to the coronavirus crisis.

KLM and Elbers asked the court to clarify what the airline could and could not pay the former CEO. It had been agreed with the Dutch state that KLM could not pay any bonuses as long as the company was still using government support due to the coronavirus crisis. The court ruled that the transition payment for Elbers is not prohibited based on the conditions that the government set for KLM’s state aid.

KLM announced at the beginning of last year that Pieter Elbers would not take on a third term as CEO of the Dutch airline after “proper consultation” with the Supervisory Board. The airline thereby terminated Elbers’ employment contract.