Tension over Air France-KLM CEO woes

Long simmering tension within Air France-KLM erupted into the open after managers at Dutch arm KLM warned of possible strikes and employee unrest should Pieter Elbers be removed as head of the unit. “The possibility of an unexplainable, involuntary departure of our CEO brings a lot of tension in the workforce,” a group of managers wrote in a February 8 letter seen by Bloomberg News to the Air France-KLM board.

The move “will certainly lead to social unrest and possible industrial actions.” The KLM managers asked the carrier's directors to renew Elbers's mandate at their next meeting on February 19.