KLM Will Shed Almost 15% of Its Positions as Ground Handling and Its Cygnific Call Center Move Out

KLM said on November 5, 2026, that about 5,000 positions have been or will be reorganized as it chases a €1 billion improvement in annual earnings. The airline expects the number of positions at KLM to fall by almost another 15%.

The plan came on the same morning as KLM Group’s third-quarter results, which showed an operating profit of €458 million, up €106 million on a year earlier. CEO Marjan Rintel said the cost base “remains too high” and that the operation is “too vulnerable” to keep investing and competing.

Where the 5,000 positions go

Most of the 5,000 roles do not simply disappear: the work moves to another employer. KLM’s own breakdown has four parts, and the first is already done.

Part of the plan	Positions	What happens
KLM Catering Services	1,250	Work carried out in partnership with gategroup since this spring
Ground Services	About 800	Work to be transferred to external providers in the future
Cygnific and other units	2,000	Transferred to Air France-KLM, including 1,500 at the Cygnific contact center
Productivity measures	About 1,000	Fewer positions at KLM

KLM said it expects to limit the impact on staff through natural attrition, voluntary arrangements and transfers to other jobs. Its release does not rule forced redundancies in or out, and it gives no date for most of the moves beyond “the coming years.”

It also wants new collective labor agreements with the unions, with a structural productivity gain of at least 8% by 2028 and “very moderate” wage growth. KLM’s announcement carried no union reaction.

What passengers will notice

At Amsterdam Schiphol, KLM’s Apron Services for European flights and its Baggage Services will work with outside ground handlers. Those partners will take over the below-the-wing work at KLM Cityhopper and baggage handling in the East Hall.

In the terminal, KLM says digital tools will give travelers more control over check-in, boarding and rebooking, with staff shifting toward direct customer service. Cygnific, KLM’s customer contact center, moves to Air France-KLM, and the airline says AI will help improve the booking experience.

The European fleet changes too. KLM will keep its A321neo jets, while smaller Embraer E195-E2 aircraft will replace the A320s it had planned, giving KLM Cityhopper a bigger role.

The Boeing 737 and Embraer E190 will be phased out over the coming years. KLM puts its fleet at 185 Airbus, Boeing and Embraer aircraft. Its long-haul renewal is already underway, with the first KLM Airbus A350 scheduled into passenger service at the end of October.

Why a profitable quarter was not enough

Over the first nine months of 2026, KLM Group’s operating profit reached €526 million against €328 million a year earlier, on revenue up more than 9% to €10.9 billion. Capacity grew 4.3%, and KLM restated its 2025 figures after adopting the IFRS 18 reporting standard early.

CFO Bas Brouns said the third quarter is “traditionally our strongest,” yet the profit margin “remains too low” and needs to rise above 8%. KLM said flight cancellations to and from the Middle East and higher fuel costs weighed on the passenger business. KLM has since dropped Amsterdam-Dubai for the winter.

Margin is the number that matters here. An airline needs cash to pay for new aircraft, and KLM’s own plan ties the €1 billion target to investment in the fleet, customer service and staff.

KLM said earlier measures have already brought structural improvements of more than €750 million, and that catering and maintenance are being outsourced while office space shrinks. The new plan goes further, into the ground operation at Schiphol.

Rintel said further changes to the organization, employment conditions and staffing “may still be necessary.” The proposed addition of SAS to the Air France-KLM group, still under European Commission review, is expected to bring more chances for shared work across the group, KLM said.

The cuts were also covered by NL Times, which put the figure at 15% of the workforce. KLM’s own wording is narrower: the positions at KLM will fall by almost another 15%, after earlier reductions it did not quantify.