KLM: National Airline of the Netherlands
February 26, 2009 by Tom Martens
Filed under Flights
The flagship carrier of the Netherlands is KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines, hosting a main hub at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and headquartered in nearby Amstelveen. Offering both domestic and international service, KLM-Royal Dutch airlines serves over 90 destinations, and is also a member of the world’s second largest airline alliance, SkyTeam.
KLM-Royal Dutch is part of Air France-KLM and also has an operating partnership with Northwest Airlines of the United States. The entire KLM group carries almost 75 million passengers annually, operates a fleet in operation of 607 aircraft, and serves 258 destinations worldwide. Air France-KLM recently purchased a 25 percent stake in the Italian airline Alitalia.
Founded in 1919 and the world’s oldest air carrier, KLM ran its first flight, from London to Amsterdam, in May 1920. During World War II it ceased operations. The company was accused of helping accused Nazi war criminals escape Germany after World War II, but it has denied the allegations.
Air France and KLM announced their plans to merge in 2003, marking the end of the oldest independent airline in the world. However, the merger did not impact KLM’s long time partnership with United States based Northwest Airlines, as both companies joined the SkyTeam alliance in September 2004.
Fliers in first or business class on KLM are given souvenir porcelain reproductions of old Dutch canal houses, the Delftware miniatures filled with a Dutch liqueur. KLM’s practice of handing out the Delft porcelain miniatures began in 1952, and, as 2008, the company’s eighty-eighth year in operation; there are 88 models of the houses. Each October 7 the company celebrates the anniversary of its founding with a new Delftware design.
KLM’s mileage program is Flying Blue. Members can accumulate and spend miles on flights on Air France-KLM, and also on other SkyTeam carriers and with a variety of transportation, travel, and financial companies. Flying Blue members earn four membership levels, Ivory, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, determined by their accumulated SkyTeam miles. Members can also earn miles on flights operated by Kenya Airways, which is a Flying Blue partner.
The venerable history of KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines has not shielded it from the current year’s economic turbulence. On account of declining ticket sales and lower cargo traffic, Air France-KLM announced recently that will lay off up to 2,000 workers. These job cuts represent about 3 per cent of the total workforce. The company further plans to reduce its airline capacity by about 2 per cent in the summer of 2009, hoping to compensate for the $653 million loss it posted for the fourth quarter of 2008. Company management has said it has not ruled out even more future job reductions or flight terminations as the company seeks to stabilize its finances and return to profitability.
An airline watchdog group based in Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, announced in February 2009 that it is suing Air France-KLM over price fixing allegations. KLM denies the charges and will defend against the suit. British Airways and Qantas were recently fined $5 million and $20 million over similar price fixing allegations.