AMSTERDAM: KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, said on Friday that it would cut 1,500 additional jobs as part of a restructuring in which it needs to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 as well as prepare for recovering traffic after the coronavirus crisis.
Parent company Air France-KLM on Thursday reported a €1.55 billion ($1.8 billion) operating loss for the second quarter, with traffic down 95 percent from a year earlier.
KLM said that the new cuts would mean its workforce, which was 33,000 before the pandemic, would be reduced by 20 percent in all by 2022. It did not rule out further cuts.
“In all scenarios, demand is only expected to recover by 2023 or 2024 at the earliest,” CEO Pieter Elbers said in a statement.
The restructuring was aimed at retaining as many “jobs as we can in a responsible manner and repaying loans as quickly as possible,” he said.
By comparison, Air France SA plans to cut 6,500 jobs, or 16 percent of its workforce, through 2022.
The Dutch and French governments have given the two national carriers, which merged in 2004, a combined €10.4 billion ($12.4 billion) in bailout money, in a mix of loans and loan guarantees.
Conditions imposed by the Dutch government include pay cuts for executives and pilots, and a ban on bonuses and dividends.
KLM, while smaller than Air France, contributed more to group profits in the years before 2020, leading at times to friction between the French and Dutch governments.
Traffic is gradually resuming at KLM, although Elbers said that the latest rise in cases in many countries could threaten that.
While most of KLM’s routes have been restored, it said last week it planned to operate 13,000 flights in August, still down 60 percent from the same month a year ago.
KLM says 1,500 new layoffs bringing total job cuts to one in five
https://arab.news/gcf4n
KLM says 1,500 new layoffs bringing total job cuts to one in five
- Coronavirus and emissions reduction hit Dutch airline’s bottom line
Lebanese social entrepreneur Omar Itani recognized by Schwab Foundation
- FabricAID co-founder among 21 global recipients recognized for social innovation
DAVOS: Lebanon’s Omar Itani is one of 21 recipients of the Social Entrepreneurs and Innovators of the Year Award by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
Itani is the co-founder of social enterprise FabricAID, which aims to “eradicate symptoms of poverty” by collecting and sanitizing secondhand clothing before placing items in stores in “extremely marginalized areas,” he told Arab News on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
With prices ranging from $0.25 to $4, the goal is for people to have a “dignified shopping experience” at affordable prices, he added.
FabricAID operates a network of clothing collection bins across key locations in Lebanon and Jordan, allowing people to donate pre-loved items. The garments are cleaned and sorted before being sold through the organization’s stores, while items that cannot be resold due to damage or heavy wear are repurposed for other uses, including corporate merchandise.
Since its launch, FabricAID has sold more than 1 million items, reached 200,000 beneficiaries and is preparing to expand into the Egyptian market.
Amid uncertainty in the Middle East, Itani advised young entrepreneurs to reframe challenges as opportunities.
“In Lebanon and the Arab world, we complain a lot,” he said. Understandably so, as “there are a lot of issues” in the region, resulting in people feeling frustrated and wanting to move away. But, he added, “a good portion of the challenges” facing the Middle East are “great economic and commercial opportunities.”
Over the past year, social innovators raised a combined $970 million in funding and secured a further $89 million in non-cash contributions, according to the Schwab Foundation’s recent report, “Built to Last: Social Innovation in Transition.”
This is particularly significant in an environment of geopolitical uncertainty and at a time when 82 percent report being affected by shrinking resources, triggering delays in program rollout (70 percent) and disruptions to scaling plans (72 percent).
Francois Bonnici, director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Executive Committee, said: “The next decade must move the models of social innovation decisively from the margins to the mainstream, transforming not only markets but mindsets.”
Award recipients take part in a structured three-year engagement with the Schwab Foundation, after which they join its global network as lifelong members. The program connects social entrepreneurs with international peers, collaborative initiatives, and capacity-building support aimed at strengthening and scaling their work.
