KLM boosted its passenger tally 6.4% last year, ensuring that parent Air France-KLM Group also posted a gain despite slumping numbers at sister company Air France, where strikes and a spate of terrorist attacks crimped traffic. KLM added 1.8m more customers in 2016, for a total of 30.4m, while Air France saw its figure slip by 691,000, or 1.4%, to 49.8m, including the Hop! regional business. Alexandre de Juniac stood down as Air France-KLM chief in July after failing to force through cost cuts at the French arm in the face of employee opposition. Union hostility has prompted a series of walkouts. Successor Jean-Marc Janaillac has said he’ll take a more conciliatory approach and is shaking up senior management as he seeks to fend off the challenge of discount carriers in Europe and Persian Gulf operators on long-haul routes. <br/>
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South Korea's two largest carriers -- Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines -- lagged far behind their rivals in on-time performance last year, according to data by industry tracker FlightStats Monday. Korean Air landed 68.3% of its international flights within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival times, while Asiana Airlines landed 62.5% within the scheduled arrival times. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines were not included in the top 10 rankings of the annual airline on-time performance report. In comparison, top-ranked KLM landed 88.5% of its international flights within the scheduled arrival times last year, the data showed. The average delayed arrival times for Korean Air were 32.3 minutes, while those for Asiana Airlines were 38.9 minutes, according to the data. <br/>
Alitalia and its shareholders presented their latest business plan to Italy’s govt Monday, paving the way for crunch talks with unions over up to 2,000 job cuts that could decide the future of the struggling carrier. The Italian centre-left govt pledged support for efforts to turn around the airline but asked the carrier to finalise a plan before starting any talks over possible job cuts, playing down any immediate threat of layoffs. “Any discussion on employment levels will take place in a second stage, once the details of the industrial plan are defined along with a long-term project to relaunch the company,” Rome’s industry ministry said after hosting the meeting. The carrier approved Dec 22 a short-term financing deal and a new strategy, including job cuts, that allowed it to start negotiations with stakeholders. <br/>