KLM loses Delta and Air France as ground services customer

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(Reuters) -Airline KLM will lose Air France and Delta as customers for its ground services at Amsterdam Schiphol airport following weeks of strikes by its ground crew, the Dutch arm of the group Air France KLM said on Monday.

The airlines have told KLM they are looking for an alternative ground handling partner at Schiphol, one of Europe’s busiest airports, it said.

“This decision has immediate operational implications for KLM, particularly for the ground services department,” KLM said in a statement.

“The financial and employment-related consequences of this decision are currently being assessed.”

Delta and Air France did not reply to requests for comment.

Large parts of KLM’s Amsterdam ground crew have staged several strikes in the past weeks to demand higher wages and better working conditions, leading to hundreds of cancellations.

“This has played a large role in the decision by Delta and Air France,” KLM spokesperson Anoesjka Aspeslagh said.

“They have incurred millions of euros in damages and had to let down many of their customers.”

But labour union CNV said the decision by KLM’s partners was unrelated to the strike and would not change the ground crew’s resolve for action.

“This is the start of their negotiations,” CNV union spokesman Souleiman Amallah said, referring to the airlines involved.

KLM earlier this month struck a deal with several unions, but not with the two main ones that have continued their actions and have announced a new and broader strike for Wednesday.

A court on Monday said that strike would only be allowed if the unions guaranteed the flights of KLM’s international partners would be  unaffected.

KLM ground services handles 17 daily incoming and outgoing Delta flights and 12 from Air France, on a total of 380 daily flights.

(Reporting by Alban Kacher and Bart MeijerEditing by David Goodman and Barbara Lewis)