CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT 2009-10

LIMITING THE IMPACT OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS ON JOBS BY IMPROVING
COMPETITIVENESS
Air France-KLM aims to overcome the economic crisis by
safeguarding competitiveness while preserving employment.
Guided by a socially responsible employment policy, the
Group encourages commitment and responsiveness. It is
stepping up job mobility and support schemes, making staff
more resilient and able to adjust to future changes.
Responsibly rationalizing the number of jobs
Limiting hiring is a key way to protect jobs in the economic
crisis; it is therefore a path chosen by Air France-KLM in 2009
and renewed in 2010. Other measures in turn supplement
the curbs on hiring: introducing more part-time employment,
temporary measures to cope with peaks in activity, and
promoting greater mobility and teleworking.
Measures implemented by Air France since autumn 2008,
were successful and continue to apply, but Air France needs
to become more competitive and put structures in place to
swiftly mobilize the necessary gains in productivity. Natural
attrition is not enough to achieve the workforce reduction
target, so a plan for 1 684 voluntary redundancies in 2010
has been rolled out for ground staff and will apply to over
1,800 people including some part-time employees. This
entailed lengthy talks with social partners ahead of the human
resources planning agreement, signed in July 2009, which
defines the procedure to follow for such a plan.
For KLM, this strategy has led to a staff reduction of 10% full
time equivalent, along with the expiry of temporary contracts.
Adapting to protect employment
To protect employment several adjustments were made or
increased in 2009, showing the will and flexibility of staff in the
face of vital changes.
Following the total freeze on fixed term contracts and
temporary work, internal resources have been relied on to
meet temporary system overloads, notably on the operational
front. This deepened solidarity between the companies and
in 2009, 160 Air France employees from various departments
helped to reinforce operations, for periods lasting between
several weeks and several months. In parallel and with the
same goal, administrative staff spent over 600 working days
helping customers check-in during peak times at airports.
At KLM, office staff were asked to assist operational ground
staff during peaks times, thus avoiding the need for temporary
workers. In 2009, almost 320 employees were voluntarily
involved. Following the same rationale, every month on
average 380 captains and co-pilots voluntarily assist KLM’s
ground handling, as part of a program supported by unions
and the working council. In addition over 100 crew members
were employed with KLM’s subsidiaries.
Promoting internal mobility
Air France-KLM strongly supports internal mobility with a
number of schemes, as part of a policy that helps to develop
and preserve employment.
Professional or geographic mobility for Air France ground staff
puts a premium on internal resources. Therefore in 2009, the
Mobility Unit (Espace Mobilité) continued to provide support
and guidance for these jobs transfers, receiving 1,600 visits
and delivering 57 themed talks to a combined audience of
nearly 600 people. It also developed new aids, with the April
2009 launch of workshops to teach staff how to draft resumes
and cover letters, attend selection interviews and familiarize
themselves with selection tests.
At KLM, vacancies created by limited time contracts ending,
retirement or other kinds of voluntary leave were left vacant
when possible and otherwise filled by internal candidates,
leading to 350 successful interdivisional matches in the fiscal
year. The newly established Cargo Navigation Center offers
information on vacancies, help in writing resumes, applications
and career counseling.
PROMOTING A RESPONSIBLE
HUMAN RESOURCES POLICY
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