KLM is not allowed to ask applicants for the position of pilot whether they have been vaccinated against Covid-19. The airline is also not allowed to reject candidates based on their vaccination status. That has the court in Amsterdam decided on Thursday† KLM requires new employees to be vaccinated. Pilots’ union VNV disagreed and instituted summary proceedings. If the ruling is violated, KLM will have to pay a penalty of 100,000 euros.
According to the court, KLM’s claim is an “infringement of the privacy of the candidate pilot”. KLM would not have sufficiently demonstrated why this is necessary. Partly due to the corona crisis, the airline says it is increasingly dealing with pilots who are subject to a flight restriction because they are not vaccinated.
The judge doubts whether this problem can be solved with a vaccination obligation. Employees who initially do get vaccinated can later change their mind and decide not to get a repeat shot. They may therefore still have to deal with flight restrictions in the future.
KLM has not yet responded to the ruling. The VNV says it is happy with the ruling. The pilots’ union called KLM’s demand rather discriminatory and contrary to the right to privacy and physical integrity. The vaccination obligation would also be at odds with previous agreements. For example, the collective labor agreement states that Covid-19 vaccinations “only take place on a voluntary basis”.