The announced departure has hit the airline’s works council hard, says chairman Dario Fucci. “The CEO who steered our company through the worst storm in our existence is leaving us. This will be a heavy message for many colleagues and people really need time to process this.”
According to Fucci, Elbers is “highly appreciated and much loved.” “This really hit like a bomb,” says Fucci, who was flying from Istanbul to Schiphol as captain at the time of the announcement. “I had two flight attendants on board who, when they just heard the news, had tears in their eyes,” said the Works Council chairman. My phone exploded too.
The timing of the announcement may be a bit unfortunate because KLM is still in a difficult phase, says Fucci. “The morale of the employees is taking a hit. We are currently working very hard with very few people and have been fighting for our existence for two years already,” explains the Works Council foreman. “If the foreman who is very much loved and who keeps everything together leaves, then that makes an impression.”
Fucci is not afraid that the early announcement of his departure will make Elbers less able to defend KLM’s interests. “The way in which Pieter took up his role as CEO was of course fantastic, but the approach does not change with a new president.”
As far as Fucci is concerned, it is logical that Elbers’ successor comes from within KLM. ,,Someone from the outside cannot work with the complexity and unique structure of KLM. For Pieter there was an outsider”, Fucci refers to former minister Camiel Eurlings. “And we know how that ended.”
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