KLM's chief executive Marjan Rintel spent a flight to Johannesburg this week working on board with the cabin crew. She shared the experience on LinkedIn on Wednesday 21 October. "This week I flew along to Johannesburg to do my own bit," she wrote (all quotes translated from Dutch). She had done the same before on a flight to Los Angeles: "That left me wanting more." Her verdict on the job: "The work on board is wonderful and challenging at the same time. You are on your feet for a long time and you are alert all the time."1

What Rintel wrote about the work on board

Rintel opened her post with something passengers often tell her: "as soon as they board with us, they feel welcome and at home. That is thanks to our colleagues on board." She wrote that the dedication and craftsmanship of the crew strike her every time, and she closed with a thank you: "Thanks to the crew for your hospitality and honesty."1

KLM is the Dutch flag carrier, part of the Air France-KLM group and based at Amsterdam Schiphol. Rintel is the airline's CEO2. Find out what it is like to fly for the airline on our KLM airline page.

Testing the new catering

According to Rintel the flight was also "a great opportunity to test our new catering offer on intercontinental flights and to ask passengers what they thought of it". She added: "Good to see that people appreciate our new service, and fortunately they always have points for improvement as well."1

KLM's onboard service is changing on several fronts. In September 2025 the airline announced a new service concept for World Business Class and Economy Class on intercontinental flights. By organising the work differently, KLM wants to serve hot meals faster and create more room for personal contact with passengers, and the welcome drink is returning. Because fewer trolleys are needed, KLM can expand Premium Comfort Class on its intercontinental Boeing fleet to a maximum of 40 seats, depending on aircraft type, and add seats in Economy. The changes are being developed and tested on board and will be introduced from 20273.

For European flights KLM announced Grand Café KLM, starting in October: passengers can pre-order a meal or choose from an onboard menu, while coffee, tea, water, orange juice and a stroopwafel stay free4. In September Rintel visited caterer Qizini, which supplies Grand Café KLM. "I regularly visit our partners to see and taste for myself the new products we are going to serve on board," she wrote at the time5. Behind the scenes, gategroup agreed in March to take a 75 percent stake in KLM Catering Services, with KLM keeping 25 percent6, and under an agreement with Schiphol signed in May, KLM's catering activities will move to Schiphol North7. KLM is also upgrading connectivity, as we covered in our article on airline Wi-Fi.

Why a CEO works a shift on the front line

Executives who join the front line see up close how their decisions work out in practice. Rintel put it this way: "For me these experiences are very valuable, because they also help to make good decisions that help to strengthen our company further."1

There are plenty of decisions to make. KLM is in the middle of a cost-cutting programme called Back on Track2. According to Dutch news agency ANP, around 250 office jobs have gone, the executive board has been cut from five to four members, the hiring of non-essential external staff has stopped and a vacancy freeze remains in place8. Presenting the half-year results in July, Rintel said that one good half-year does not make KLM structurally strong and robust2. KLM's parent group is also active in European consolidation, as described in our article on the TAP Air Portugal privatisation.

What it says about pressure in the cabin

Rintel's description of the job, long hours on your feet and constantly alert, touches on a subject KLM cabin crew have raised for years. In July 2025, during the previous round of talks on a collective labour agreement, the Dutch cabin crew union VNC wrote that the operation had been unstable for a long time, leading to "increasing workload" and "unpredictable rosters"9. In the negotiated result of December 2025, all proposals that would have increased the workload were withdrawn, including stretching the flight hour limit on European flying and temporarily scrapping or restricting a long haul arrangement. KLM and the unions also agreed to investigate whether cabin crew work can be classified as a physically demanding profession. The agreement runs until 28 February 202710.

Crew numbers and the onboard service have been linked before. When KLM redesigned its intercontinental Economy service in 2018, the airline explained that the new cabin crew labour agreement meant one fewer crew member on many intercontinental flights, so a more efficient service was needed11.

The next round is already being prepared. A meeting between KLM and all unions on the approach to new talks was scheduled for 8 October12. After the half-year results, VNC wrote that management "still considers the financial room limited" and that the union is keeping a close eye on workload, employability and working conditions13.

What it means for pilots and cabin crew

For cabin crew, the post shows that the work on board is noticed at the very top of the company, at a time when KLM is reshaping its service. For pilots, the cabin is part of the same team: the flight deck and the cabin form one crew, and how authority and teamwork play out on board is something we covered in our article on captain authority and CRM.

If you want to fly for KLM, the KLM Flight Academy is the airline's own training school. In 2026 it trains 80 students in four classes starting in March, June, September and December, and selection runs all year14. According to KLM, students who complete the programme successfully are guaranteed a job as a pilot with KLM, and students starting from 1 January 2026 can fund the training through a deduction from their future gross salary over 120 months15. Prepare with the KLM Flight Academy selection practice, read how the selection works, the requirements to become a pilot at KLM and what a pilot earns at KLM, and see the KLM Flight Academy page. Already qualified? Practise for the KLM pilot selection and browse pilot jobs.