- Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has long been regarded as one of the most effective and highly regarded in Europe.
- Large security queues frequently snake outside under tents.
- Condemned by KLM, the national carrier of the Netherlands.
Large security queues frequently snake outside under tents. Numerous irate travellers stood in those lines but still missed their planes. Luggage that is delayed or lost and strikes at work. condemnation from significant airlines, especially KLM.
Many passengers and aviation insiders are wondering what has happened to an airport that has long been regarded as one of the most effective and highly regarded in Europe, if not the entire world, as labour shortages at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport continue to fuel the unprecedented chaos that started in the spring.
Infuriating airlines like KLM, the national carrier of the Netherlands with its hub at Schiphol, the troubled airport has continued to reduce flying capacity and will be the third busiest airport in the world for international passenger numbers in 2021. The most recent set of cuts required airlines to make cuts of up to 22% for the winter season, which KLM described in a release as “a terrible scenario lacking any perspective.”
After the prolonged Covid dilemma, KLM continued, the situation is “destroying our reputation among travellers who are eager and willing to go.” The airline calculates that the incident has cost it more than 100 million euros in damages (about $96 million).
According to Simple Flying, a number of airlines, including Air Malta, TUI, and Transavia, decided to divert flights from Schiphol to other airports over the summer.
Mismanagement has received a lot of criticism, and on September 15, Royal Schiphol Group President and CEO Dick Benschop announced his departure. Until a replacement is identified, Benschop will continue in office.
Schiphol’s difficulties were a frequent topic of talk at the World Aviation Festival in Amsterdam, where Benschop was the keynote speaker. Around 5,000 members of the aviation sector were there.
In the wake of the epidemic, staff shortages have wreaked havoc on the whole aviation industry, but Schiphol has been particularly hard hit. Beginning on April 23, the first day of the Netherlands’ spring break, when the KLM ground staff went on strike and caused major disruption, the difficulty became brutally clear.
Because of a shortage of security personnel, the mayhem persisted throughout the summer. According to Joost van Doesburg, Schiphol campaign head for FNV, the union that represents approximately 40% of Schiphol’s employees, the situation was somewhat alleviated by a 5.25 euro hourly bonus the airport instituted for security personnel during the peak travel season.
Airport cleaners, who chose to strike in late June, were not eligible for the incentive, according to Dutch agency ANP.
Many employees naturally moved in search of higher-paying positions once the bonus was eliminated during the summer season, a decision that was questioned by many insiders in the aviation and labour industries. As a result, especially on weekends, the lines at Schiphol have increased once more.
Joost criticised such cost-cutting tactics as being a part of a “race to the bottom” management mentality that has been the root of many of Schiphol’s problems, calling the situation there “a chaotic mess.” He said that improved worker wages, reduced outsourcing of airport operations, and more defined work patterns are all necessary.
As a security guard at Schiphol Airport, you may now make a lot more money working at a supermarket, according to Joost. “They probably need to report back with what we observed regarding emergency measures, but they also need to make sure they do everything in their power to create long-lasting… structural reforms to increase employment at Schiphol Airport.”
Meanwhile, the continuous issues continue to perplex and frustrate passengers.
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