Marjan RIntel was president of the Dutch Railways from October 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022. From 1 July 2022, she will be KLM's president. She today apologizes via a personal email to loyal customers for the ongoing chaos and problems at the airports in Europe. She writes the following:
If you have recently taken a flight, or are planning to do so in the near future, you have noticed that airlines and airports across Europe are not sufficiently prepared for the rapidly increasing passenger numbers. KLM passengers have also been affected by this and I would like to offer my sincere apologies to anyone who has had to deal with a disruption to their KLM flight or has experienced problems with baggage.
We have to do something about this and that is why, in addition to all the measures already taken, KLM has taken further steps to improve our operation:
- In order to be able to offer the service and quality you can expect from KLM, we have reduced the number of flights with immediate effect.
- Some of the available aircraft seats are not sold, but reserved for passengers who have missed their flight or whose original flight has been cancelled. If necessary, we also apply this policy to baggage.
- We have extended the transfer times for passengers transferring at Schiphol, giving them more time to catch the connecting flight. This reduces stress for our passengers and for our colleagues at the airport.
- At Schiphol's special request, and in order to make security and customs checks smoother and faster during peak hours, we closely regulate the numbers of passengers departing from Schiphol.
In addition to safety, solving our operational challenges is our top priority. Every day, 28.000 KLM colleagues work around the clock, often under difficult circumstances, to get you and your luggage to your destination comfortably and on time. As you can and may expect from us. In most cases we succeed in doing so. However, in recent weeks the main problem has been late or lost luggage. We have taken extra measures to return that luggage to its owner and to provide our customers with the necessary and usual aftercare.
We have expanded the teams of our Customer Care Centers with more employees, but due to the backlog that has arisen, we are not yet as accessible as we would like to be. We understand that this is frustrating and that customers can feel that they are left to their own devices. Nothing could be further from the truth, please know that we do our utmost for you.
I feel it is important to offer my sincere apologies to those of you who have been personally affected. We will do everything we can to regain your trust in KLM. Millions of passengers choose to fly with KLM every summer, especially now we have to show that we are worthy of your trust. Every flight again.
Thank you very much for your attention and for your patience and understanding.
On behalf of all members of the KLM Executive Committee,
Yours faithfully,
Marian Rintel
President and CEO
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
PS We advise you, if you have experienced a disruption, to use our online rebooking, claim and refund services*.
