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Dutch airline Martinair Cargo to reduce fleet, cut jobs

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Dutch airline Martinair Cargo is to scale back its fleet by June 2016 which will affect 330 employees, Air France-KLM, of which Martinair Cargo is a subsidiary, stated Monday.

"Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo has decided on a business model which requires less freighter capacity, rather than a model with no freighters at all," Air France-KLM stated.

"Consequently, as an operating carrier within the KLM Group, Martinair Cargo will scale back its fleet and use just one type of aircraft, the Boeing 747," it added.

From 2016, the fleet of Dutch-based freight operator Martinair Cargo will go back from 10 to four planes. This decision affects a total of 330 employees including 170 ground staff full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the Netherlands, 50 FTEs abroad and 110 cockpit FTEs.

In September 2014, Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo announced it would be reducing the amount of freighter capacity in its network. The decision to scale back the full-freighter fleet has been taken to restore the division's financial health.

"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," Air France-KLM stated. "This will take place in close consultation with the unions and will only apply to employees working in areas where a staff surplus arises."

A number of voluntary measures have recently been rolled out for pilots at Martinair Cargo. Reassignment options within the KLM group have been explored over the last few months and a number of pilots have taken the step to join Transavia, another subsidiary of Air-France-KLM.

"Various scenarios were explored, which turned out to be inadequate for tackling exploitation and losses," Martinair CEO Marcel de Nooijer said in a press release. "We deeply regret the social consequences, but these steps are unavoidable if the cargo business is to have a durable future. The decision to adjust the cargo fleet has been taken after very careful consideration."

Martinair was established in 1958 and has been a fully-fledged member of the KLM Group since Dec. 31, 2008. On Oct. 31, 2011, Martinair operated its last passenger flight and continued as a freight carrier only. Endit