Klm: Past, Present, Future

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KLM Cargo: Past, Present, Future |

BSAB 410: Management of Air Cargo |

John M. Barbachano |

29 January 2016 |

BSAB 410: Management of Air Cargo |

Table Of Contents

I. History

II. Mergers and Alliances

III. Management and Organization

IV. Fleet

V. Employee Benefits

VI. Countries Served and Hubs

VII. Markets

VIII. Hard Times

IX. Future

X. Conclusion

History

KLM is the oldest air carrier in the world that is still operating under the same name. The airline was founded on October 7, 1919. The proper name of the airline is actually Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij voor Nederland en Koloniën – KLM. The first flight of the airline was piloted by, Jerry Shaw, flying from London to Schiphol in a leased De Havilland DH-16. The aircraft carried two reporters and mostly newspaper making the airlines first flight mainly considered a cargo flight. The following year the airline was successful in carrying 440 passengers and 22 tons of freight, proving that at even an early stage the airline was planning to be a cargo and passenger based airline.

From the first years until World War II, KLM flew mostly Douglas DC aircraft, (being the only airline at the time to fly all Douglas DC models) and Fokker aircraft. The airline progressively started making intercontinental flights in the mid-1920’s and into the 1930s, when they made their first transatlantic flight from Amsterdam to Curacao in December 1934 in a Fokker F.XVIII "Snip". Post World War II, KLM was able to recover quickly and again was the first continental European airline to start scheduled transatlantic flights between Amsterdam and New York City using Douglas DC-4 aircraft. By 1948, KLM had reconstructed its network and services to Africa, North and South America, and the Caribbean.

During the early ages of the jet aircraft, KLM was the first to employ the higher-gross-weight Boeing 747-200B; this began the airline's use of wide body jets, which...