Amayzine

Dear Ben Smith,

Dear Ben Smith laughing in a suit at a dinner in Paris

We don't know each other and until about six weeks ago, I would have quite liked it if that ever happened. I love KLM and you are the boss of Air France/KLM so... Maybe I would have told you about the salt and pepper shakers that my father always took from his flights (he was a captain in the deep sea and therefore flew a lot, preferably with KLM) and that I would take later when I would apply at KLM because that would save the company some money. Until about six weeks ago, I expected you would have found that a nice story. Now I don't know that anymore. Because you and I, I believe we are not entirely on the same wavelength. And yes, you may take that as an understatement.

You earn nine hundred thousand euros a year. 900,000 euros. And that is separate from your relocation allowance and pension scheme. That amounts to a rough 75,000 per month. And you don't have to pay for a house with that because the company pays for that. Yes, maybe you still have a little place in Canada where you come from, but it won't cost much more than 5000 euros, right? That leaves quite a nice amount over, it seems to me.

Roald Dahl once said: rich people always want more. I don't know if that applies to everyone, at least not to Bill Gates and his generous donations, but I believe we can include you in this list. Because what do you do as the leader of a company that is in the worst situation ever? Do you stand behind the troops? Do you park your personal interest behind the interest of your hard-working employees who see a few fewer zeros credited to their accounts than you? Do you say: oh you know, let's skip that 150 percent bonus this year. Almost the entire fleet is grounded, money is pouring out, we have to hold our hand out to the state; I don't know, it might not feel entirely correct.

But no. You don't say that.

I would like to say a hundred things, but I'll leave it at this for now. A captain leaves the ship last. He makes sure that everyone else is safe first. And aren't shipping and aviation not that far apart?