Helga van Leur caused a lot of irritation with her performance in Pauw & De Wit, where the weather woman constantly stood up for KLM boss Marjan Rintel. “It was just really maddening.”
KLM boss Marjan Rintel was at the table last night Pauw & De Wit to account for the chaos that has arisen at her airline. They were clearly caught out there by the heavy snowfall and that is so far, but travelers have been left to their own devices. There is no communication at all, as we are used to from KLM.
Helga in the breach
The biggest problem? There was not enough liquid to de-ice the planes. “I understand that you don’t have that in stock, but if you see it coming a week in advance…” says host Tim de Wit sternly.
Not Marjan answers, but Helga van Leur, who sits at the table for her rebuttal. “I have to add something: 80 percent of Europe is experiencing snowfall, so they are not the only airport that really needed that liquid right now.”
Invisible
Tim believes that KLM does not communicate well enough. “Also, for example, here at the table. We have been asking all week if you wanted to come. Why were you so invisible to the outside world?”
Marjan: “I am where my responsibility lies, namely where my customers and passengers are.”
Helga: “I understand that you are now focusing all your attention on KLM, but there are of course more airlines that fly from Schiphol. Have they not had any problems?”
Maddening
Marjan finds it somewhat uncomfortable how Helga keeps defending her. “No, that’s the same for everyone, right? No, but we are of course the flag carrier in the Netherlands, so I understand that the arrows are coming our way and we of course also take that responsibility.”
TV critic Victor Vlam sat in front of the TV and found it highly uncomfortable. “What a maddening performance by Helga van Leur at Pauw & De Wit. Finally the KLM CEO was interviewed. But several times Helga presented herself as the defender of the CEO. Partly because of this, Tim could not get a good grip on her,” he says on X.
Remarkable
Yteke de Jong, aviation journalist for De Telegraaf, doesn’t understand it either. “All the more remarkable, because Helga was always more in the anti-aviation angle, she supported action groups that are in favor of Schiphol shrinkage.”
Victor: “That indeed makes it even more remarkable! (…) You also wonder why she feels called to act as her defender. I would think: good questions from Tim, I’m curious about the answers from the CEO.”
He concludes: “I sincerely wonder whether Helga gives climate lectures at KLM. It wouldn’t surprise me.”