US-Netherlands Air Dispute: American Society Furies Over Schiphol

The US government is considering countermeasures and has requested flight schedules from KLM for flights to and from the US. JetBlue wants the Biden administration to cancel KLM flights to the US, which KLM describes as ‘extremely damaging’.

Budget airline JetBlue says it is contractually entitled to land at Schiphol, but the Infrastructure Ministry denies this. The two countries will hold talks on Monday.

Places

The conflict came after the cabinet decided to reduce the number of Schiphol flights from 500,000 to 452,500 a year to ensure less inconvenience to local residents. As many airlines still prefer to fly to Amsterdam, choices must be made in allocating seats known as ‘slots’. These are the periods during which flights are allowed to land and take off.

Priority is given to airlines that have been using Schiphol for a long time. Hugo Thomassen, director of ‘slot coordinator’ ACLN, says: “There is simply no room for JetBlue and 23 other parties. Historical rights must first be forgiven, and there is little room beyond that.”

Duty

JetBlue, which launched flights from Boston and New York to the Netherlands last summer, is furious that it will be out of business next summer. The company said in a response to RTL Nieuws: “We believe that the United States and the Netherlands have an obligation under the Open Skies Agreement to ensure that JetBlue continues to have access to Schiphol.”

But a spokesperson for the Dutch infrastructure ministry contradicted this: “This claim by JetBlue is not correct.” According to the ministry, the agreement is about the use of each other’s airspace and airports, but no seats can be acquired from it. “Transport rights and places are not the same thing, and the EU-US Open Skies Agreement does not guarantee places.”

Very harmful

KLM received a high-profile letter from the US government asking it to provide information within a week on the number of flights to and from the US. A spokeswoman said they were responding to this, but also warned the Dutch government that the contraction at Schiphol could lead to retaliation from other countries. “We have repeatedly pointed out the possible consequences for the government. This potential ‘retaliatory effect’ would be very damaging for KLM.”

The US is an important market for the airline. Allowing KLM to fly less would cost it a lot of revenue.

High voltage argument

The United States and the Netherlands are now entering into consultations to resolve the situation. US correspondent Eric Mouton reports that the parties are in dire straits. “It’s starting to take the form of a diplomatic row, with countries blaming each other. They’re pointing fingers at each other.”

Meanwhile, the conflict creates uncertainty for consumers who may not be able to travel to the U.S. with JetBlue next summer. If the US actually bans KLM, the Dutch will be in trouble with their travel plans.

This could be a blow to KLM, thinks aviation expert Joris Melkert from TU Delft: “It depends on how bad it will be. If you talk about 1,000 flights a year, that’s two or three flights a day less. . Then we actually have ten on an annual basis. We’re talking about millions, if not, it’s a solid story.”