Martinair Cargo fleet revamp affects 330 jobs

Air France-KLM freight airline Martinair Cargo has confirmed plans to drastically scale back its fleet to four Boeing 747 freighters by June 2016, affecting 330 jobs.

Last year Air France-KLM performed a review of its loss-making cargo operations, ending in a decision to phase out five Martinair MD-11 freighters as it strives to hit cargo breakeven by 2017. In summer 2014, Martinair operated 14 aircraft.

“Both KLM and Martinair Cargo have discussed the consequences of this decision with the works councils. The decision to scale back the full-freighter fleet has been taken to restore the division’s financial health. The decision will affect more than 330 employees,” KLM said in a statement.

The fleet changes will impact around 170 ground staff in the Netherlands, 50 abroad and 110 cockpit crew members. However, under the original plan, KLM warned that up to 400 staff could have been affected.

“The company will do its utmost to reassign ground staff within the KLM Group using existing instruments, the scope of which may be extended to include voluntary redundancy. This will take place in close consultation with the unions and will only apply to employees working in areas where a staff surplus arises,” KLM said.

KLM added that a number of pilots have opted to transfer to leisure carrier Transavia, although it is unable to offer pilots the same salaries they were receiving at Martinair.

“Negotiations between Martinair Cargo and the unions are ongoing and are based on the existing collective labor agreement (CLA). However, the possibility of compulsory redundancies cannot be excluded,” it said.

From 2016, Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo will operate two Boeing 777Fs from Paris Charles De Gaulle and four Boeing 747-400s from Amsterdam Schiphol, supported by KLM’s 15 Boeing 747 Combis.

“Cargo remains a core business for the Air France-KLM Group. It generates income of €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) per year and contributes around €1 billion a year to the passenger network. It goes without saying that pulling out of the cargo business is out of the question,” KLM said.

(Victoria Moores - ATWOnline News)