How long has it been no chaos at Schiphol this summer? So without the long queues outside in the heat, the mountains of uncollected suitcases due to missed flights, waiting times of many hours and complaints about third world conditions by frustrated passengers who thought they could finally fly carefree again after the corona crisis?
‘It certainly went better in August,’ says FNV director Joost van Doesburg. ‘Then the nice summer bonus of 5.25 euros per hour did its job. But since last week, the much lower Schiphol bonus of 1.40 euros per hour applies. And if security guards come to Schiphol especially for that bonus, as happened, they also leave when that bonus disappears. That’s why last Monday turned out to be the worst day since the end of April, with again great chaos and missed flights.’
And so the shortage of security guards turned out to be the banana peel that proved fatal to Dick Benschop (64). The Schiphol boss announced his departure on Thursday afternoon, after he had refused to resign earlier this summer. ‘I am making room on my own initiative to give Schiphol the space to make a new start. I do not want attention for my person to become an obstacle for Schiphol,” the departing CEO said in a statement. ‘The situation at Schiphol and what that means for our travelers and employees is close to my heart. I’ve done my very best, but we’re not there yet.’
Done too little
The surprised Van Doesburg calls the departure ‘pretty regrettable’, but also says that Benschop intervened too late. ‘Schiphol was stuck in the race to the bottom, with all kinds of outsourced work to become cheaper and cheaper. We warned for a long time that this would cause problems. But too little has been done by Benschop, and too late.’
Barin, the trade association of the airlines, previously accused the Schiphol boss of the same. “He reacted too late,” chairman Marnix Fruitema recently said in a statement de Volkskrant. ‘The shortage in the labor market was already visible at the end of 2021. Schiphol was very surprised by the staff shortages, and any surprise is a sign of incompetence.’ Fruitema now: ‘And last Monday they were surprised again. Then it is understandable that Benschop is leaving.’
This means that the reduction of labor costs, including those for the overloaded baggage handlers, will lead to the fall of the former right-hand man of the late PvdA icons Joop den Uyl and Wim Kok. In addition to a lot of ‘understanding’ about the ‘great pressure’, a few are happy with this – ‘Finally’, said director Hendrik Noorderhaven of EUclaim claims organization on Thursday. Furthermore, the concerns are predominant. ‘I’ll leave it up to you for a moment whether it is right that Benschop is leaving. But the dot on the horizon in terms of solutions has not been reached’, says Fruitema van Barin, who states that Schiphol, the supervisory board and also ‘The Hague’ have all failed.
Cancel flights in October
KLM boss Marjan Rintel, who took office this summer, also understands the decision. ‘In the interest of our customers, I expect that things will be put in order quickly and adequately,’ she said in a short statement. As the largest user, KLM had to cancel many flights to keep the crowds at Schiphol manageable. On Thursday it became clear that airlines will also have to cut the number of departing passengers in October, according to Barin by 18 percent. The cause is again the security guards, of whom there will be even fewer in the coming period than previously thought.
And so Schiphol has to continue ‘beheaded’ in the midst of the ongoing chaos. FNV member Van Doesburg is concerned. ‘I don’t know whether resigning will bring the problem closer to resolution. We had good agreements with Benschop, now Schiphol has to look for someone else. I’m afraid this will further delay the resolution.’
Jan van Ingen Schenau, a former PvdA and Schiphol companion of Benschop, previously spoke of the ‘most difficult job in the Netherlands’, so it will not be easy to find an adequate replacement quickly. Van Doesburg: ‘And that still has to be worked in. In any case, it must be someone who understands personnel policy and the labor market, because that is currently Schiphol’s biggest problem.’
Fresh wind at Schiphol
In addition to the chaos, the new CEO of Schiphol will have to deal with the cabinet decision that the number of flights must be reduced to a maximum of 440,000, while the decision on the opening of Lelystad has been postponed. Fruitema van Barin sees no point in those plans and hopes for a quick appointment to put an end to the problems. ‘Someone from outside who puts things in order and brings a breath of fresh air at Schiphol. I have high hopes for that. How? I sometimes hear something.’
Former Shell Netherlands CEO and former PvdA State Secretary Dick Benschop, who took office in May 2018, will remain in office until there is a successor. He will have to follow the future of Schiphol as an outsider. Friend Van Ingen Schenau previously advised him to ‘keep things neatly together this summer’ and then quickly work on the shrinkage. It has not come to that. “I hope things get better soon,” Benschop said in his statement on Thursday. ‘I love Schiphol. Managing this company was a great honor for me.’