Airline ground staff cancel planned Sunday strike

AMSTERDAM:  Ground staff at Dutch airline KLM have cancelled a strike scheduled for Sunday, trade union FNV said.

Baggage handlers and other ground personnel of Air France-KLM’s Dutch arm were to stop working for four hours on Sunday, starting from 1100 GMT, in pursuit of their demands for higher pay and better working conditions.

But the union said on Saturday that KLM looked prepared to make significant steps to end the dispute.

Two-hour strikes led to dozens of delays and cancellations at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport twice this week.

KLM was established on 7 October 1919 and is the world’s oldest airline still operating under its original name. KLM will celebrate its centenary this year.

Operating out of its home base in Amsterdam, the KLM Group served its global network with a fleet of 209 aircraft in 2018. KLM employs 33,000 people. In 2017, the KLM Group generated EUR 10 billion in revenue.

Carrying 34.1 million passengers and 621,000 tonnes of cargo, KLM and KLM Cityhopper form the heart of the KLM Group. Via a vast network of 92 European cities and 70 intercontinental destinations, KLM offers direct services to key economic centres all over the world.