KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines: National Airline Of The Netherlands
KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines is the Netherlands’ national carrier, with its home offices in Amstelveen and its main hub at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Serving over 90 travel destinations, KLM offers both international and domestic flights. It is a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, the world’s second largest airline alliance.
KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines is part of Air France-KLM, and also has an operating agreement with Northwest Airlines, based in Minneapolis. The KLM group serves nearly 75 million passengers every year, runs a fleet of 607 aircraft, and reaches 258 destinations. Air France-KLM recently expanded its global reach even further by purchasing a 25 per cent stake in the Italian airline Alitalia.
KLM-Royal Dutch is the world’s oldest airline and was founded in 1919. KLM-Royal Dutch operated its first flight in May 1920 from London to Amsterdam. The airline stopped operating during World War II. KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines has been accused of helping Nazi war criminals flee Germany after World War II, a charge the company denies.
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 frequent flyer program is called Flying Blue. Flying Blue members can earn and spend mileage points on flights and services of Air France-KLM, other companies of the SkyTeam airline alliance and assorted other financial, travel, and transportation companies. Flying Blue contains four membership levels – Ivory, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Level miles are gained by taking any flights with an AF or KL code or flights operated by one of SkyTeam’s airline companies under the code of any other SkyTeam airline, or flights operated by Kenya Airways, which is a Flying Blue partner.
KLM’s past success isn’t protecting the airline from a bumpy future. The airline recently announced it will cut up to 2,000 jobs due to lower ticket sales and lower cargo volumes. The cuts represent three percent of the KLM workforce. KLM also plans to reduce its airline capacity by two percent in summer 2009. KLM lost $653 million dollars in the quarter ending December 31, 2008. Airline officials say they haven’t ruled out future cuts or reductions as they look to stabilize their business and return the airline to profitability.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, an airline watchdog group, announced in February 2009 that the group is suing KLM over allegations of price fixing. KLM denies the charges and plans to contest the lawsuit. Qantas and British Airways were recently fined $20 million and $5 million for similar allegations of price fixing.