KLM TO CUT 2,500 JOBS, LOWERS CAPACITY
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will slash up to 2,500 jobs due to the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
The airline has also extended its reduction of aircraft capacity by an additional 10 percent, to 15 percent, but KLM said the capacity cuts would not impact freight.
The airline is also seeking to trim the working hours of 12,000 employees and make a “substantial” pay cut to an unspecified number of others. The management and supervisory board members would take pay cuts of 15 percent.
KLM, based in Amsterdam, estimated the attacks resulted in a loss in September of $46 million. Cargo traffic fell 8 percent while capacity remained the same. Overall cargo load factor decreased 6.2 percentage points to 68.0 percent. Already prior to Sept. 11, the airline's cargo load factor had declined to 67.4 percent, down 5.2 percentage points from the year-earlier period.