Dutch airline KLM, part of Air France-KLM (EPA:AF), has appointed Zita Schellekens to the new position of senior vice president (SVP) for sustainability & strategy.
- KLM has created the role of SVP for sustainability & strategy.
- Zita Schellekens was appointed to the job and will join the company in March 2023.
- She will lead the transformation and sustainability teams, established to further accelerate the company’s sustainability efforts.
Zita Schellekens will start on 1 March 2023. In her new role, which is part of the airline’s executive committee, she will be responsible for the transformation and sustainability teams, founded to further accelerate the company’s sustainability efforts. She will report directly to KLM chief executive Marjan Rintel.
Rintel said: “The Dutch want to carry on flying and we see travel increasing globally. KLM wants to make this possible in a responsible manner, because this is the only way we can take KLM safely into the future. That means investing in a good product for customers, making smart use of technology, and setting ambitious sustainability goals. Zita’s drive and decisiveness and her wealth of experience in tackling complex sustainability issues at major companies all make her the ideal candidate to lead the way in improving KLM’s sustainability.”
Schellekens is joining after two and a half years as sustainability director at DSM (AMS:DSM), a Dutch company applying bioscience to health and nutrition. During that time, she joined forces with former DSM chief executive Feike Sijbesma to invest in innovative, sustainable startups. She is also a member of the sustainability advisory board of the Royal Schiphol Group, the owner and operator of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Prior to her position at DSM, she was director of corporate affairs at Heineken (AMS:HEIO), where her responsibilities included sustainability, public affairs and communications at various locations in Asia, Africa and the Netherlands.
Schellekens commented: “I am committing myself to a tremendous mission: the sustainable transformation of KLM. It’s a huge and challenging mission, and one that is absolutely necessary. In my new position, strategy, transformation and sustainability converge. That means focusing on accelerating the transition to sustainability, exploiting every innovative solution available, and setting up smart public-private partnerships.”
