Skift Take
After two years dominated by operational headaches, Marjan Rintel tells Skift why she's entering the summer season with a sense of cautious optimism.
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Have you been to Amsterdam? If so, there’s a good chance you’ve flown on a Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij plane without knowing it. The company, better known by its catchier acronym KLM, is the flag carrier of the Netherlands and the world’s oldest airline operating under its original name.
From its mega hub at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, it serves more than 170 global destinations with a fleet of distinctive bright blue aircraft. It's a cornerstone of the SkyTeam alliance, and counts Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic among its key commercial partners.
But a proud history is no guarantee of future success. As recent challenges have graphically illustrated, KLM’s long-term relevance in an increasingly competitive industry cannot be taken for granted.
Thankfully, Marjan Rintel is no stranger to problem-solving. She spent 15 years in various operational and marketing positions across KLM before leaving to be President and CEO of Dutch Railways. She returned to the airline in 2022, taking on the CEO role from Pieter Elbers, who is now CEO of Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo.
In the latest of our Leaders of Travel: Skift C-Suite Series, we sit down with Rintel as she leads KLM into a busy summer season.
A Very Important SummerSkift: We’re speaking here at the start of June, with hopefu