Management of KLM

KLM’s management is in the hands of its Executive Team. The statutory Managing Directors are President and Chief Executive Officer Marjan Rintel, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer Erik Swelheim and Chief Operations Officer Maarten Stienen.

The Supervisory Board supervises the management by the Board of Managing Directors and the general performance of KLM. The Supervisory Board consists of Cees ‘t Hart (chair), François Enaud, Jan-Kees de Jager, Christian Nibourel, Marjan Oudeman, Fleur Pellerin, Pierre-François Riolacci, Benjamin Smith and Janine Vos.

Marjan E.F. Rintel (1967) – President and CEO – has a strong track record in civil aviation. After her studies, Rintel worked in various roles at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In 1999, she moved to KLM and held a number of different positions until 2014. She got to know the company from the inside: operationally and commercially. In 2014, Rintel exchanged KLM for NS (Dutch Railways). For six years, she held the position of Operational Director on the Executive Board. In 2020, she was appointed Chairman of the Board. On 1 July 2022, she returned to KLM as President and CEO.

Rintel is responsible for the overall strategy and performance of KLM, in which setting strategic priorities to strengthen KLM's market position is an important aspect. In addition, she is committed to helping KLM further recover from the COVID-19 crisis while making KLM even more sustainable. It is very important that this vision and the role of innovation in it are further developed.

She is also responsible for maintaining and strengthening a customer-focused and efficient organisation. The focus is on developing and improving collaborations, partnerships, and strengthening KLM's social position. Rintel believes that the bond between KLM and society should be strengthened with a focus on mutual understanding.

In her role as President of KLM, Rintel is a member of the Executive Committee of the Air France KLM Group and the CEO Committee. She also holds various other additional positions.

Rintel studied Business Administration at the University of Groningen.

Erik (R.) Swelheim (1965) – Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer - started his career at KLM in 2004 as Corporate Controller. He became Chief Financial Officer in 2012 and joined the Board of Managing Directors in 2014. Before working at KLM, he held several financial positions within Unilever, such as Financial Manager of Iglo-Ola in The Netherlands, Financial Director of the European Supply Chain at DiverseyLever and Financial Director of JohnsonDiversey and of DiverseyLever in France.

Within the joint responsibility of the Board of Managing Directors, it is the CFO who manages KLM’s corporate finance & treasury, financial planning & reporting and financial risk management. As a Managing Director KLM’s Procurement and IT are part of his focus area. He is a member of the IATA Financial Committee. Furthermore, he is a member of the Supervisory Board of Transavia, a 100 percent subsidiary of KLM.

Erik Swelheim graduated at the University of Amsterdam (Master in Business Economics) and the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (Post Graduate Financial Controlling – RC).

Maarten Stienen (1974) joined KLM as a management trainee in 1998. Having completed his traineeship, he joined Aircraft Services, where he worked for four years and was ultimately appointed head of Operations. Seeking a new challenge, he trans­ferred to Outstations in 2004, becoming general manager for North, Central and South America, which saw him moving to New York.

In 2007, he returned to the Netherlands to take the post of vice president of Baggage & Turnaround Services at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Having held this post for four years, he was appointed vice president of Industrial Relations & Compensation and Benefits, where he took charge of restructuring employment compensation and benefits for the entire KLM workforce.

In 2018, he was appointed managing director of KLM Catering Services, where he was in charge of service delivery to multiple airlines, the redesign of the catering supply chain and the realignment of commercial and personnel strategy. He was then appointed senior vice president of Hub Operations, a division tasked with all aircraft and passenger handling for KLM and partners at Schiphol. Maarten worked at this division during the coronavirus pandemic: one of the most challenging crises in KLM’s history. In August 2022, he was appointed chief operations officer.

Maarten Stienen has gained almost 25 years of operational and management experience at various AFKL Group divisions and in executive posts. Thanks to this broad experience, he has extensive insight into garnering workforce support for essential changes. Maarten also has a great affinity for key topics such as customer satisfaction, digitisation and sustainability.