British Airways hires KLM operations head amid travel chaos

British Airways is hiring Dutch rival KLM’s chief operating officer as it seeks to stabilize services after canceling hundreds of flights due to staffing shortages.

Rene De Groot will leave KLM effective July 15, the unit of Air France-KLM said in a statement Wednesday, adding that it has begun the search for a successor. He’ll join BA in October, replacing current COO Jason Mahoney.

British Airways, part of IAG SA, is scrapping a further 800 scheduled services to help avoid last-minute cancellations, taking the total close to 9,000. That’s after the UK government waived rules requiring the use of most airport operating slots and told carriers to scrap flights where necessary.

De Groot’s KLM exit comes as the carrier’s own hub at Amsterdam Schiphol encounters unprecedented disruption, with hours-long queues snaking from terminals amid a shortage of security staff. The airport has capped summer passenger numbers almost 20% below usual levels to combat the chaos.

BA said it’s hiring De Groot to help “navigate an extremely challenging period for our industry,” with the focus on improving operational resilience and lifting headcount to ease the shortfall, as well as on the customer experience.

An internal memo to staff from Chief Executive Officer Sean Doyle, seen by Bloomberg, said De Groot will join as COO from Oct. 1, with Mahoney moving to the post of chief technical officer.

The move comes days after EasyJet Plc revealed that its COO, Peter Bellew, had resigned. That departure followed clashes over how best to handle strikes over pay, with Bellew favoring a tougher approach, according to a person familiar with the situation.