Pilots get priority for flight discount KLM staff: ‘Pure discrimination’

GBad words are not avoided on Wednesday afternoon on the square in front of Schiphol Airport. “Pure discrimination,” shouts a blond man in his fifties, dressed in a KLM uniform. She has been employed as a ground stewardess for 25 years, and this is the first time she has openly rebelled against her employer. And she is not alone, because more than thirty colleagues followed her example today.

Dissatisfaction has been simmering among some KLM staff for years. They criticize the so-called IPB scheme. This allows employees and their families to travel at a significant discount, even after retirement. This is done via unsold seats from KLM and about 160 other airlines. These are allocated to the staff shortly before departure.

But it is far from certain whether as a KLM member you will actually be allowed on board. That depends on your seniority and position. Pilots with more than eight years of service are given priority. This also applies to pursers (steward and flight attendant managers) with more than fifteen years of service and all upper management. They are referred to as category A employees.

Category A status

However, the KLM employees standing at Schiphol Plaza today are coming off badly. They are ground staff – the 15,000 employees who lift suitcases or refuel planes – and service staff on board. To obtain such category A status, they must have been in service for twenty years. They lose that privilege immediately after retirement, while pilots, pursers and management retain A status after they retire.

And that breeds dissatisfaction among employees. Take baggage handler Rishi Bihari. He has been serving faithfully in the fluorescent-lit basement, the belly of the airport, for 23 years. There he ensures that all holidaymakers’ suitcases reach the plane on time. He now also has category A status, but that is of little use to him during the high season. ‘During the summer holidays, most places still go to pilots and their families. They are always slightly higher in rank. Even though they don’t have to be employed that long at all. Isn’t that unfair?’

Aviation is known for its strict hierarchy, with pilots at the top. That is outdated, says FNV union director Hacer Karadeniz. The union started a petition and it was signed five thousand times within three months. The association asks KLM to only look at years of service in the future. The association wants to hand over that request to the KLM management this afternoon.

Jubilant mood

There is a jubilant mood among the assembled employees. Take Paul Ko, who has been looking forward to this moment for years. He worked for KLM for forty years, including as an aircraft mechanic. Since his retirement in 2018, he has lost his A status; he’s back at the bottom of the list. ‘I understand that working colleagues have priority, but some appreciation for forty years of work would be nice. Especially if colleagues in the cockpit retain their status.’

They consider the fact that KLM will soon come to listen to them as a boost. Pilots’ union VNV is less interested in the concerns of ground employees and cabin crew, together more than half of all KLM employees. A spokesperson speaks of ‘mood-mongering’. ‘There are simply differences in conditions.’ According to the VNV, such an action puts relations on edge ‘and that will lead nowhere’.

The moment the employees are waiting for ultimately does not come. KLM does not want to receive the five thousand signatures, symbolically packed in a black trolley case with the text ‘we are all equal on holiday’. The airline calls it an ‘internal matter’ to the FNV. KLM could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

Disappointed

The issue is not yet settled for the union, says director Karadeniz combatively. The association will quickly take the suitcase to the head office itself and demand a response within two weeks. The association is already threatening action. ‘We are not going to wait until 2050 for this. If KLM does not move along, we will escalate.’

Aircraft technician Robin Bhola, who has been employed for 25 years, is disappointed that his top bosses have not shown up. He calls it indicative of KLM. ‘The management is willing to do anything for pilots. But they don’t want to receive five thousand signatures from their other employees.’