Cargo department to change hands again as Schiphol restructures

Schiphol Airport’s cargo department is set to change division again as part of a restructuring at the airport.

The Dutch hub outlined earlier this week a reorganisation, which will see changes in its management structure as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

In the first phase of the re-organisation, the airport has implemented changes to the senior management and organisational structure, leading to the merger of a number of business areas and departments.

As a result, the number of management positions at Royal Schiphol Group has been reduced by almost a quarter.

Under the new structure, all airline-related activities of the aviation marketing, cargo and customer experience team, including cargo, route and business development, traffic analysis and forecasting, and marketing and communication have been integrated into the airport operations business unit headed by Miriam Hoekstra – van der Deen.

Bastiaan Kroes, senior manager within airport operations, will temporarily oversee all commercial airline and cargo related activities until the new Schiphol structure has been finalised.

As a result, Maaike van der Windt, who has headed up the ACC team since April 2018, will leave the organisation.

The move comes just two years after the cargo department was merged with aviation marketing.

Van der Windt said: “I applaud the cargo community. Not only as the last couple of months have demonstrated more than ever that air cargo is crucial for fast shipment of time critical goods, but also as we have been able to bring focus to long-standing improvement programs.

“Despite the crisis we have continued with activities, which are instrumental for the future of air cargo like the Smart Cargo Mainport Program and the impending take-over of full ownership of our cargo information platform Cargonaut, which will improve the supply chain and ensure that Schiphol’s cargo community is supported with the tech they need to thrive.”