KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has postponed the delivery of two B787-9s as pressure mounts on the Dutch carrier to enhance its fiscal discipline through cuts in spending. 

Bloomberg news quotes KLM spokesman Robbert Veldhuizen as saying that while two of the carrier’s 10 B787-9s on order from Boeing have been delayed, the delivery of the first remains on track for the last quarter of the year. 

KLM has also been forced to cut 22 flights from its schedule beginning in May after the airline was unable to come to an agreement with its labour unions over proposed new collective labour agreements. Regular flights to Bangkok, Nairobi and Shanghai will be scrapped, while trips to new destination Edmonton is postponed, newswire ANP reported.

 Earlier this year, the chairman of KLM’s cabin crew union VHKP, Bob van der Wal, said the airline was looking to boost productivity by 20 per cent by 2020 while reducing its labour costs by 10 per cent.