Amsterdam Airport Working On A Way To Kick Out JetBlue, After All | Airlines

Amsterdam Airport Working On A Way To Kick Out JetBlue, After All

by Gary Leff on November 18, 2023

Amsterdam’s Schipol airport planned to reduce allowable flights in order to appease local residents, who almost certainly all moved in (indeed, were born) after the airport opened in 1916 to military traffic and in 1920 to civilian traffic.

KLM was going to benefit from reduced competition, but even they said they preferred not to see their own flights limited even though it meant limitation on flights by other airlines – and even denying access to the airport to carriers like JetBlue.

The U.S. sent the Dutch government a missive reminding them that a decision to ban a U.S. airline was in violation of the E.U.’s Open Skies treaty with the United States. The government said, yeah you’re right sorry.

But now the airport is talking about a work-around. A year ago the airport was facing a severe staff shortage that was causing meltdowns at immigration and elsewhere, and causing their baggage system to disintegrate. At one point KLM refused to accept connecting baggage on intra-European journeys. And the airport limited flights since they couldn’t handle the volume.

The workaround, in the face of their national government deciding they cannot limit flights to appease locals? Just manufacture a new staffing crisis!

Amsterdam (AMS) may use its recurring staffing issues to justify a cut in terminal capacity for Summer 2024 to essentially reinstate a form of slots after the Dutch government abandoned plans to impose a cut in slots…

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