THE HAGUE, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The board of Air France-KLM on Tuesday voted in favor of the reappointment of Dutchman Pieter Elbers as CEO of KLM, the Dutch division of the Franco-Dutch airline.
The reappointment comes after recent speculation in French and Dutch media on the position of Elbers.
The KLM staff noticed of this speculation and even protested against a possible departure of the CEO, fearing a departure of Elbers might weaken the Dutch interests.
A staff petition for Elbers to stay on was signed 25,000 times. The Dutch government also showed worries about the future of KLM, which merged with Air France in 2004.
On Friday morning, Dutch Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra and Dutch Minister of Infrastructure Cora van Nieuwenhuizen had a meeting with Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith to discuss the situation.
"It was a good and intensive discussion," Hoekstra commented to Dutch national broadcaster NOS. "It is about thousands and thousands of Dutch jobs. We want to ensure that this is also guaranteed in the long term."
"I sincerely thank the respective boards of KLM and Air France-KLM for placing their trust and confidence in me with my reappointment," Elbers, CEO of KLM since 2014, stated in a statement. "I look forward to serving KLM for the next four years as CEO."
"Under Pieter's leadership, KLM has made tremendous progress during the past four years," KLM stated. "With Pieter Elbers at the helm of KLM for the next four years, KLM is ready for its future, and committed to contribute to the success of Air France-KLM."
