KLM pilots threaten to drag airline into court

Pilots union VNV has given KLM an ultimatum - if the airline does not take cutbacks on the pilots' pensions off the table by Friday, the pilots will turned to court, KLM confirmed to news wire ANP. End July KLM announced that they want to get rid of guaranteed indexation of pilots' pensions. Stricter rules and low interest rates mean that the current agreement would lead to an additional payment of 600 million euros into the pension fund this year. The airline wants to avoid that cost and would rather spend that money on planes and chairs. "I am disappointed in the extremely unreasonable and radicalized arrangement of the KLM management", VNV president Steven Verhagen said to the Telegraaf. We are a responsible part that clearly has an interest in a vital KLM. Let them not honk that they are the only ones keeping an eye on the company's interest. What they are doing now is the opposite." According to the union, this is the first time KLM has to make an additional payment to the pilots pensions. The last couple of years there was about 1 billion euros the airline did not have to pay. KLM is "examining" the VNV's letter, a spokesperson said to ANP. He could not say whether they would respond by Friday.