NS top woman Marjan Rintel (54) will be the new president of airline KLM as of 1 July 2022. That has parent company Air France-KLM on Thursday announced† Rintel succeeds Pieter Elbers. At the beginning of this year it was announced that Elbers would retire after two terms.
Rintel has been at the head of NS since 2020. Before her time at the railways, she already held various positions at KLM and Air-France-KLM. For example, she was vice president of sales and services at the airline company. The KLM works council has still been asked for advice on Rintel’s appointment as president.
There was a lot of discussion internally about the appointment of the new KLM president, various media reported, including: The Telegraph, Wednesday. The supervisory board would have been divided. Some of the supervisors would have preferred Pieter Bootsma, who holds a board position for Air-France-KLM. The most important board positions at the company are now all filled by men. Another part of the supervisory board wanted Rintel as the new CEO, partly from the point of view of diversity.
Also read this interview from February with the current CEO of KLM: Pieter Elbers: ‘The road to recovery has started’
Difficult relationship
Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith, who wants to further centralize the company, would rather have seen Pieter Bootsma as the new CEO. The Canadian, who is known to have a difficult relationship with the current CEO Pieter Elbers, will remain at the helm of the aviation combination for the next five years. His mandate was extended early.
Rintel calls it “an honor” to succeed Pieter Elbers. In a press statement let NS know that it regrets the departure of Rintel. The railway company will immediately start an appointment procedure for the succession of Rintel. If no successor has been appointed at the time of her departure next year, financial director Bert Groenewegen will become acting president.
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