Dear shareholders, good afternoon. This general meeting, in many ways, is a very unique one. It is unique due to its digital form. We thank the teams who allow you to follow it under these new conditions. You had the possibility to ask the questions on your group, on what it goes through, and on its future. We'll answer later on. It is special because it's taking place during a period that the Air France-KLM group has never experienced. For several weeks, Air France and KLM operated only 5% or 10% of their operations before the crisis. The other group's airlines are totally on stop for more than two months. Since the very start of this crisis, the group's teams have played a major role by repatriating thousands of French citizens as well as Dutch citizens from around the world.
Our cargo teams have widely been involved in the supply of medical equipment of our two countries. Our maintenance teams have taken up the challenge with our crews to maintain the absolutely essential connections for life while preparing the kickoff of the economies. This general meeting is very special due to the analysis and proposals that we will be sharing with you, through our CEO, Ben Smith, surrounded by his CEO Committee, Frédéric Gagey, Anne Rigail, and Pieter Elbers. I'd like to thank them and all the group's teams who are facing this crisis with commitment, courage, and a very special determination. I'd like to thank also the members of your Board of Directors for the very strong involvement whilst I'm constantly, every week, have them on board since the beginning of the crisis.
I thank again our four main stockholders, Delta, China Eastern, and more particularly, the French State, the Dutch State, for their trust and their financial support that has been exceptional. Finalized for the one and being finalized for the other. It's thanks to them that we can weather this crisis and continue to write the history of the Air France-KLM Group. We are aware of our collective responsibility and will be up to the task. Air France-KLM has proven its resilience capacity in the past few months. Our teams have adjusted very quickly to a situation that no one would have imagined. We owe this resilience to the cultural transformation ability of our group, whose history has been going through one century for KLM and more than 86 years for Air France.
We are drawing from our DNA a special and unique strength that we can use in order to adjust to the challenges of this world for the after COVID-19. We have in front of us huge challenges in the short term, an operational challenge. We are gradually restarting our operations. This is totally unheard of. The challenge is to be back on track for a performance up to the financial support that is provided by our two shareholding states and our banking partners in the world and in economies which remain shaky for many months.
This will require significant efforts. These first two challenges will have to include the new challenges of the post-COVID-19 world. Some of them exist already, they will take a new dimension. I have in mind our environmental responsibility and the sustainable transition of the Air France-KLM group. We will speed up our ambitions for our clean future and for the future of the industry as a whole. I also believe that we have increased responsibility when it comes to health safety. This is an absolute priority for all our employees and for all our clients.
The health safety will take even further forward the conditions of air travel, and we already had to adapt to this for the past 20 years with the new safety rules in regard to terrorist attacks. We know these challenges, and I know that our group has available all the human assets, the operational and technological qualities in order to take this up. This crisis has helped to prove what is perhaps the most important. We are a strategic trump card for France and for the Netherlands. We have been among the first companies to be helped.
We have the trust of our governments. This is not by chance. We were able to gauge our role in the Air France-KLM actions in the situation of crisis. We are a central asset for many economic sectors. We've always been at the heart of influence of France and the Netherlands. We've seen our colors fly around the world. Each company, each citizen in France or in the Netherlands, is connected to the whole world thanks to our two Schiphol and Roissy hubs.
This is a strategic advantage and should become even more a competitive advantage. Finally, we are a robust group, rooted in the European history and culture, and strong thanks to our global partnerships. It is also through the airline industry that Europe has materialized and that manufacturers such as Airbus, but also the constitution of a group like ours, has been in existence.
I am convinced that we'll be able to meet the challenges that we're facing through an unflinching European solidarity. At the moment when the world is being hit hard by this pandemic, we are asking the question about formalizing our purpose today. For want of having finalized it, I can assure you that we can feel it very clearly living at the bottom of each one of us. We will be able to present it to you in a few months.
To end, I'd like to express my total confidence in the leadership and the vision of the group CEO, Ben Smith, with his 30-year experience dedicated to the airline industry, with his passion, surrounded by the group's teams and of our companies, with each man and each woman in every sector of operations, he'll be able to allow Air France-KLM to overcome this crisis, which is of such a scope that we could never imagine it just a few months ago. I'd like to thank you for your attention. I will now proceed with the appointment of our meeting panel, and I will chair it.
Anne-Sophie Le Lay, Secretary General of the group at Air France-KLM, and Frédéric Gagey, CFO for Air France-KLM, have accepted to assume the roles of scrutineers in accordance with the applicable rules. Anne-Sophie Le Lay shall be secretary of the meeting. Due to the fact that we are behind closed doors, the auditors will not be attending. Frédéric Gagey, the CFO for the group, will be presenting the reports on behalf of the college of the auditors. According to what is customary, we have called upon a bailiff to note the regularity of this general meeting. Well, I will now turn it over to Anne-Sophie Le Lay for the formalities. Thank you very much for your attention. Anne-Sophie.
Thank you, Madam Chair. This general meeting is being held behind closed doors due to the health crisis situation, in accordance with provisions of Article 4 of the government order of the 25th of March 2020 regarding the adjustment of meeting rules and deliberations of AGMs due to the COVID-19 epidemic. I confirm that the legal formalities have been accomplished.
The notice of meeting and the call for convening were published on the 17th of April and 8th of May 2020. All documents provided for by law are available on our internet site. They were made available to the stockholders since the call to meet, and I suggest not to list them. In addition, every registered shareholder has received, by post, communication of the call, of the agenda, and of the resolutions. Finally, I inform you that we have not received any request for further resolutions or other items on the agenda. The general meeting is taking place behind closed doors.
You had an opportunity to vote or give a proxy through the Internet or by post. No vote will take place during this general meeting. We shall disclose to you the results of the voting at the end of the session. The verification of the attendance register gives a final quorum of 66.25%, acknowledging that the legal quorum, which is one quarter of shares with voting rights, has been fulfilled. The general meeting is therefore regularly formed and may now deliberate validly in its ordinary and extraordinary form. The Chair.
Thank you very much, Anne Sophie. I now declare that the general meeting is regularly formed and may validly deliberate. I suggest not to fully read the report of the board, of the resolutions, and the reports of the auditors that were made available to you. When it comes to the agenda of our general meeting, Anne Sophie Le Lay will first of all give us a reminder of the resolutions to be voted on.
Our CFO, Frédéric Gagey, will now lay out the financial results for 2019, and the CEO, Ben Smith, will then present the strategic directions of Air France-KLM. Both of them will come back, of course, on the crisis related to the COVID-19 and its consequences. Following their presentations, I will present the main features of our governance. As I pointed out, the various reports by the auditors will be presented by Frédéric Gagey.
We will answer, finally, the main questions that you have posed to us before the general meeting, before moving to the presentation of the results of the voting of the resolutions. Isabelle Bouillot, who's the Chair of the Compensation Committee, will then, through a video, give you an update on the work of that committee. I will now yield to Anne-Sophie, who will now summarize the resolutions, which will be submitted to your vote.
Thank you, Anne-Marie. I will present quickly the resolutions, the details of which are in the brochure made available on our website. First of all, in its ordinary form, resolutions one to three are about approving the statutory and consolidated accounts for 2019, and the allocation of the result resolution is about approving the regulated commitments. Resolutions five to eight aim at the nominations renewals and ratifying the co-optation of admin directors. Resolutions 9 and 10 bear upon the renewal of the auditors. Resolutions 11 to 16 are about the compensation of the executive directors, corporate officers for 2019 and the 2020 compensation policy. Resolution 17 is the authorization to be given to the board to operate on the shares of the company. Let's move on to the resolutions in its extraordinary form.
Resolutions 18 to 24 aim at the proposals for financial delegation usable outside of the periods of public offer. Resolutions 25 to 32 are about financial delegation proposals to be used during a public offer period. Resolutions 32 to 33 aim to giving a financial delegation, allowing to set the issuance price within the limit of 10% of the share capital as part of the capital increases through a tender to the public and the proposal of financial delegation as part of a corporate savings plan or related to the group. Finally, resolution 34, which is about the powers for the accomplishment of formalities.
Thank you, Anne-Sophie. I now turn it over to Frédéric Gagey, our CFO, so that he can share with us the 2019 results of the group and the outlook for 2020. Frédéric.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good afternoon. As Anne-Marie said, it's under unheard conditions that we're holding this 2020 general meeting. I would like to thank you as well for attending today. The COVID-19 outbreak is the biggest health crisis encountered by our industry. The air transport is hard hit with a level of operations very low in the world currently, and this situation has material consequences for our group, our employees, our customers, you, our shareholders, and other stakeholders of Air France-KLM. As shareholders, I imagine that you have numerous questions concerning the current situation and the future of your group, and we'll attempt to answer as best as we can during this general meeting. To start, the targets of 2019. First of all, let me talk about the past year during which we celebrated two anniversaries.
First of all, the 100 years of KLM, the oldest airline in the world, which has kept its first name and over one year was a real pioneer of global aviation. Second anniversary, our Transatlantic joint venture between Air France, KLM and Delta Air Lines, which celebrated 10 years of remarkable cooperation. The three airlines have overcome together major steps, opening up new routes between Europe, North America, and by improving our service to our customers. Built around a network of seven hubs, five in the U.S.A. and two in Europe, the partnership includes today Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Europe, and allows Air France-KLM to be in a position of strength on the most highly frequented routes in the world. We achieved the financial goals in 2019. First of all, in terms of unit costs.
Unit costs of the group, excluding the Forex and on a like-for-like fuel basis, were cut by 0.9%, thanks mainly to the various projects undertaken within the airlines and the improvement of their operational performance. Now, in terms of investments, they remained checked at EUR 3.3 billion in line with our commitments towards the market. Lastly, we reached the goal in terms of balance sheet structure.
The gearing ratio of the net debt over EBITDA amounted to 1.5 at the end of 2019, a very satisfactory figure and very close to our main competitors. Let me now present the group's results for the financial year. These results show the impact of the projects undertaken by all the employees in the group in an economic context that was with whipsawing, with commercial tensions, the volatility of the oil price, and the changes in the currency world.
The revenues in the group benefited from the expertise of its operational commercial teams and of its crews, people in the maintenance and in the cargo. All in all, revenues are up for every operation, and especially sharply up for Transavia and maintenance. Your airlines, Air France and KLM, carried nearly 88 million passengers and nearly 1 million tons of cargo in our full freighters or in the bellies of our passenger aircraft.
Transavia also has continued its growth in a very quick way with over 16 million customers on board of your low-cost. Lastly, the maintenance business has handled 3,000 aircraft around the world, and 200 airlines called upon its services. All in all, the Air France-KLM Group in 2019 transported 104 million passengers, and the Group played fully its role as a union between the man, the cultures, and the economies.
Our offer and the optimization of our sales have allowed to capture better traffic, and the number of passengers in the group has risen by nearly 3%. Regarding now the operating income, which is the difference between our revenues and our operating expenses, the results for 2019 were impacted by two negatives. First of all, fuel costs sharply higher, over EUR 500 million higher than in 2018, and a less favorable environment for our cargo business.
All in all, with these various impacts, the operating result in 2019 amounted to EUR 1.1 billion. It is, however, down due to the low oil price by EUR 300 million versus 2018. When it comes to our net debt now, which equals all our debts minus our cash, it remains steady during the year, despite the very high level of investment. Therefore, these are seven consecutive years of lowering your debts for your company.
Now, our operations. Let me start with the most significant one, which is the passengers transportation. The network business, where 55,000 people are working, which allows our customers to travel on Air France, on KLM, and our two regional operators, has strengthened its development by starting new improvement approaches. The customer offer benefits from numerous projects, such as optimizing the use of the fleet or improving operational performance, the simplification of turnarounds, and the improvement of our product. This network offer was built in order to fulfill the expectations of our customers, whether in the leisure or business, and which require more and more new destinations, and they are more and more demanding when it comes to the quality of our operations. From that standpoint, 2019 will have been a year where we remarkably improved our satisfaction among customers.
You can see it on what is presented on the screen with the striking turnaround of the Air France operational performance, now ranked 7th when it comes to on-time performance, and also the Net Promoter Score, which collects the opinion of customers and has jumped as well in 2019, rewarding all the work accomplished at Air France. You will note, in addition, the always still very high assessment at KLM. The score of the NPS is 42, which is an excellent result within the industry. All in all, the revenues of our passenger business amounted to EUR 21.1 billion. They have risen by 3.6% between 2018 and 2019, thanks mainly to the good performance of the medium-haul routes, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean. The traffic is up by 3.2%, full capacity up by 2.5%.
The load factor has improved and has reached more than 87%, which is an excellent performance within the airline industry. Let's therefore hail the expertise of our revenue management teams, who are in charge of the price management of available seats on our aircraft, which have allowed such a success. Coming now to our cargo business. That business is operated thanks to our six full freighter fleet, and the passenger aircraft bellies have also contributed to economic exchanges around the globe. The latter were sharply lower in 2019 due to geopolitical uncertainties and trade tensions, especially between the U.S. and China. Some concrete examples can report about this crisis. Demand from Asia or from the automobile industry, both of them sharply went down.
Having said that, on the basis of our two hubs, Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol, as well as the expertise of its 4,000 employees, the cargo business was quite resilient in terms of external pressures with a 10% market share, which is even slightly higher in 2019 compared to the previous year. Last year, to give you a rough estimate, nearly 80% of the goods were transported in the bellies of our passenger aircraft and the rest being operated in our full freighter, Boeing 747s at KLM and Boeing 777s at Air France. The group is continuing the development and optimization of such important activity in order to adjust quickly to the current global demand. Transavia and the low-cost business. That business, again, saw a noteworthy development in 2019.
The revenue of our two subsidiaries, Transavia Holland and Transavia France, is up by 9.3%. With traffic in terms of number of passengers rising by 6.7% between 2018 and 2019, and load factor, which is at a record level exceeding 90%. In terms of profitability, the margin was established at 7.5%. These are therefore very good results for your low-cost carriers, thanks to the 3,000 employees that work there.
Their commercial teams perfectly were able to leverage the very strong demand in the European markets around six bases, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Paris-Orly, Nantes, and Lyon. Our customers soon will be able to find again Transavia in Montpellier and in Brussels. The efficiency of Transavia is mainly relying on a service, which is appreciated by the customers on the basis of straightforward products and prices, and the optimized use of one single type of aircraft.
New agreements signed in 2019 and the obtaining of slots at Paris-Orly shall enable Transavia France to speed up its growth, starting from France, especially towards North Africa and Algeria. The maintenance business. Air France-KLM is one of the global leaders when it comes to aircraft repair, servicing engines, and equipment. That activity includes 14,000 employees, who are all aware of their pivotal role when it comes to safety for the airline transport business. Its revenue is significant, amounting to EUR 2.1 billion generated through our external customers. Our maintenance business continues its strong growth, and it is profitable, with an operating margin in 2019, which was set at 5.6%. Big efforts of our teams for reducing timelines, cost controls, the digitalization, have led to the improvement of our margins in 2019 versus 2018. Teams are continuing to innovate.
I can mention, for example, the so-called predictive maintenance, which allows to anticipate repairs and gain when it comes to efficiency on a daily basis. Our expertise and the reputation that we have among other airlines and of aircraft lessors have helped us land new contracts. Our book orders have reached, at the end of 2019, $11.5 billion, which represents several years, of course, of revenues. The maintenance activity has a global reach, thanks to its partners and its numerous subsidiaries.
For instance, in 2019, Air France-KLM consolidated its global network by strengthening its presence in Asia, especially with its joint venture with Sabena and its equipment workshop, which is gradually being developed in Shanghai. Our financial structure. At the end of 2019, before this horrendous crisis that hit the current market, the gearing ratio of Air France-KLM stood at 1.5. It's a beautiful example of our financial solidity. It's a very satisfactory ratio in the industry and very close to our main European competitors.
The group had available in December 2019, the cash of EUR 4.7 billion. Added to this, EUR 1.8 billion undrawn lines of credit for a situation all in all, which would have been sufficient and even comfortable in order to face our financial commitments without the crisis of the COVID-19. This is, by the way, the balance sheet situation that helped us in the past year to start investing for an amount of EUR 3.3 billion.
A major share of such CapEx, as you know, was directed towards the renewal and modernization of the group's fleet, with the reception of the Airbus A350 at Air France or of Boeing 787 at KLM, and with the improvement of the less recent aircraft cabins like the Airbus A330 or the Boeing 777. Such CapEx has contributed to rejuvenating our fleet, which is fairly young, with an average age of about 11 years.
Also, we're able to better satisfy the demand of our clients or contribute as well to cut our carbon footprint. The respect for the environment is, as you know, more than ever, a priority for our group and for your group. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, what I wanted to share with you when it comes to the results for 2019 of your group. Now, let's speak about the first quarter 2020.
When it comes to the outlook for the current year, we published at the start of the month our results for the first quarter. They showed a very promising early part of the year with, from January to February, a unit revenue and a traffic up, despite the first signs of the COVID-19, and unit costs, they were sharply lower. We're therefore able to note the first results of our strategic plan, which is entitled Becoming a European Champion, which we announced last November. Now, the COVID-19 crisis, which first of all impacted our network at the end of January and all the flights towards China were gradually suspended. Following this, the speeding up of the outbreak and the closure of the borders impacted very much so the month of March.
Despite the good figures in January and February, they led to results sharply lower for all our operations in the first quarter 2020. A decline of 20% of the number of passengers transported, revenues, and an operating result for Air France and KLM, in a free fall with a gearing ratio which has started to deteriorate. The whole sector was incredibly hit by that unprecedented crisis.
The airlines, the manufacturers, their subcontractors are currently suffering. In the case of Air France-KLM, to counter that crisis and its effect, very quickly, we grounded most of our fleet, and then proved our ability to adjust with the implementation of quick and deep steps in order to protect our cash. We immediately cut our operational expenses, especially putting in place the part-time work, allowing savings at about EUR 350 million per month in the second quarter.
We cut all of our fixed costs for 2020, which represents about EUR 500 million. The drastic reduction of our capacity allowed us to reduce our cost by 50%, thanks to variable costs. We all immediately negotiated the postponement of payments, of taxes, of corporate taxes beyond 2020. This will have an impact of EUR 570 million, additionally, some of our suppliers' invoices were postponed after negotiation with them. The French and Dutch states, the airports, and the lessors immediately cooperated, and I thank them for that. I also note a significant decrease in our investments at EUR 2.4 billion for 2020, a decline of EUR 1.2 billion compared to our budget. Naturally, these are just estimates we already presented in the results of the first quarter. We continue to improve those figures.
The uncertainties remain with regard to the COVID-19, we must be very cautious about our assumptions of a pickup in the next few months. The quick support by the French government and the discussions underway with the Dutch government are essential for our group, that we can weather this major crisis and rebuild ourselves, this shows their trust in the future of our group. The various financial transactions carried out since the beginning of the year by the Air France-KLM group, Air France and KLM will allow us to face our future obligations.
As you will now understand, we are doing our very best to take up the biggest challenge that the airline industry is experiencing now. We are determined to overcome this crisis. Our actions and the expertise of our people allow us to see better days ahead, even though financially, we are planning for 2020 an EBITDA sharply negative due to the COVID crisis, which had never been the case since the merger between Air France and KLM in 2004. In order to conclude the structure of our capital regarding the shareholders at the end of March, the French state and the Dutch state still own each about 14% of the equity. Our strategic partners, Delta Air Lines and China Eastern Airlines, hold 8.8% each of the capital.
The European shareholders make up 58% of our capital group-wise, which allows us to fulfill quite widely the European rules in terms of citizenship applicable to airline companies, especially British institutions are dealt with as being non-European. To wrap up this presentation, I would like to thank you for your attention and for the support that you provide to Air France and KLM.
We really appreciate our discussions between those who really love the airline industry, the members of the club, the committee of individual shareholders, and this committee, by the way, will be renewed next year in 2021. For the second consecutive year, the Air France-KLM group has been awarded the SBF 120 Digital Communication top rank. This is a prize we are very proud of and shows the commitment of our team, and the relations that we have with our investors. I'd like to thank you for that.
The Chair now, thank you very much, Frédéric. I will now turn it over to Ben Smith, our Chief Executive, so that he can present the strategic directions of the Group.
Merci. Thank you, Anne-Marie. Dear shareholders, as was mentioned by our chair lady, this 2020 AGM is very special in many respects. It is organized in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, and it is impossible that we meet and hold this meeting in person as we used to do every year. It is in the midst of the hardest crisis the aviation industry has faced up.
We are experiencing personal and professional moments of great complexity in a global airline industry, almost in shutdown, hundreds of aircraft being grounded and thousands of employees under part-time activity mechanism. We know that the rally of our business operations will be slow and very gradual. We also know that we'll have to adjust to adapt to a new normal in which airline business operation will not resemble those it were a few months ago.
Since the very first days of the crisis with the CEO Committee of the group, Pieter, Anne, and Frédéric, jointly with the executive committee of the group and the airlines, jointly with all of the management line and operating teams, we did our utmost so that the Air France-KLM Group be on a par and adjust and adapt as quickly as possible to this unprecedented crisis. I want to hail and commend our 83,000 employees who did exceptional, outstanding work since the beginning of the outbreak in France, in the Netherlands, and around the world to remain at the service of our clients and to offer them solutions in very special and unparalleled situations. Thanks to them, your group repatriated more than 500,000 European citizens.
Thanks to them, the Air France-KLM Group was able to be present and to respond to the needs and requirements of our French and Dutch nations, respectively. This exceptional engagement and dedication of all our employees is one of our major strength. In 2019, we also demonstrated our ability for cultural transformation by essential accomplishments for the future of our group, which will be a major asset of the Air France-KLM Group. On this basis, we will build up our turnaround plan.
I would start by talking about 2019. The COVID-19 crisis that we are currently facing has disrupted our reality. The COVID-19 crisis has strongly challenged our industry, perhaps more than most. At first, the world assumed the novel coronavirus was to be regional, contained in Asia, and impacting our market there. However, the virus spread quickly across the globe. Travel bans and lockdowns followed, which had an unprecedented impact on worldwide air travel. For weeks, Air France and KLM were operating under 10% of their regularly scheduled capacity, while Transavia and HOP! were forced to ground all flights. Even now, global airline capacity is only 20% compared to last year. I do want to briefly touch on last year, since 2019 was a strong year for Air France-KLM.
Last year, we set a goal for ourselves to focus on the basics, ensuring we had a solid basis upon which we could build the foundations for our future success. I'm very pleased to note that we made great progress, and until the onset of COVID-19, we were achieving very strong results. All major KPIs were in line with guidance, showing each airline was on the right track before the COVID-19 crisis hit.
By way of example, aggregate unit costs were down 0.9%. Thanks to the collective hard work and dedication of all our employees, 2020 was set to become a banner year for the Air France-KLM Group, following a successful 2019 with dozens of new labor agreements signed that permit double-digit increases in commercial flexibility going forward. 2019 was a successful year for the group as we progressed down the path of significant transformation.
Over the past 20 months, we have worked hard with our labor partners, basing our new relationship on trust, respect, and transparency. This has borne fruit. We have been able to restore labor peace, unleash future growth at Transavia, and start work on harmonizing our fleets at KLM and Air France. 2019 was also a very special year for KLM, as it was the first airline in the world still operating under its original name to turn 100 years old. I'm so proud of the achievements and contributions from all KLM employees over the past 100 years, and I know we'll see much more success and many more innovations at KLM over the century to come with Pieter Elbers as its head.
The Air France-KLM Group's 2019 financial results were positive, with an operating profit of EUR 1.1 billion, admittedly below 2018 levels, though driven in part by significantly higher fuel costs. In November 2019, we presented our go-forward plan for the next five years, including a significant transformation plan for Air France. KLM already went through something similar a number of years ago.
I'm pleased to note that the Air France transformation program was already starting to yield positive results in 2019, with unit costs dropping by 1.8% in the fourth quarter of last year and a further 2.9% during the first two months of this year. This was made possible thanks to the bold actions taken in 2019, including the early-stage restructuring of the French domestic network, improved operational performance, strong control of discretionary spend, and a hiring freeze across management and support functions.
On the commercial side, all around the world, our joint Air France-KLM teams delivered a successful 2019 and started 2020 on a positive note, seeing increased unit revenues of 0.8% in January and February of this year. Customer satisfaction increased, thanks to an improved product and better operational performance, leading to a boost in our NPS, or Net Promoter Score, of 10 points on our business-to-business and business-to-trade scorecards.
Internally, our Air France-KLM IT team also made good progress on its transformation plan, most notably resulting in a unit cost reduction of 4% while meeting all 2019 KPIs. We are very pleased indeed to see such results. In our engineering and maintenance division, 2019 was the most successful year ever, with a total revenue up 6.2%. Third-party revenues were up 11%, responsible for around 50% of engineering and maintenance's activity, and with a positive forward outlook.
Overall, I'm quite pleased at the group's performance over 2019. As I mentioned, the first two months of 2020 were also quite positive. The November plan was showing early results. Unfortunately, this is when COVID-19 hit. Since then, we've been doing everything we can to mitigate the damage caused by this crisis. The severity of the COVID-19 crisis is like nothing ever seen before. It is far from being comparable to September 11th, SARS, or even the global financial crisis of 2008. As a result, the Air France-KLM Group took immediate action. Our first priority was to ensure the safety of our employees and our customers. As airlines, we have an important role in ensuring the safe and secure recovery of our industry.
We equipped our employees with necessary supplies, such as face masks and gloves, to ensure a sanitary working environment for them and our customers. We are all proud to repatriate from all over the world. We reinforced sanitary measures for customers, including obligatory face masks on all flights. Air France has also implemented temperature checks before boarding from its hub at Roissy Charles de Gaulle. More important than ever before is our commitment to safety, operational excellence, and our local communities in Amsterdam, Paris, and around the world. I would like to thank all our employees for their dedication and professionalism during these challenging times. We also took decisive financial action over the past few months.
We immediately revised our CapEx investment plan downwards by more than EUR 700 million, cut our operating costs by around EUR 500 million, halted all non-safety or non-operationally critical investment projects, and significantly reduced all consultants and external staff. This resulted in an immediate cash savings of EUR 210 million. The positive start to 2020 that we saw in January and February was negated by the acceleration and global impact of COVID-19 towards the end of February.
During the first two months of the year, passenger unit revenue was up 0.8%, and unit costs were down by 1.6%. We saw our capacity drop in March by 35%, which resulted in a load factor decline of 20 points and an increase of unit costs by 17%. We quickly responded by reducing our network capacity by more than 90% from April through June and continuing to pursue third-party maintenance where possible.
Unfortunately, we were not able to avoid a negative impact. The Air France-KLM group also deployed more cargo capacity to respond to the increased demand for essential medical supplies. Cargo flights were an essential element in the fight against COVID-19. Over 100 million pieces of protective medical equipment were shipped through so-called air bridges using cargo and converted passenger aircraft alike. As the COVID-19 crisis evolved, Air France, KLM, and Transavia were in the first line to help our European customers get home, having repatriated more than 500,000 people to the Netherlands, to France, and across Europe. Our ability to rapidly adapt to this major crisis and to support our governments and our fellow citizens, and the collective efforts of our 83,000 employees around the world, show how capable and quickly the group is at engaging and mobilizing when necessary.
I have absolutely no doubt that we will emerge from this crisis stronger than ever before. We are all working tirelessly together to rebuild the group, starting now. I'm very pleased to note that the Air France-KLM group and Air France received exceptional support from the French government with a EUR 7 billion financing package to get through the crisis and to set the basis for the post-COVID-19 period. However, I must stress that this is not a blank check. There are several conditions to these loans, chief amongst which is the transformation of Air France into a more sustainable company with a significantly reduced environmental footprint.
We are working hard on a restructuring plan, which we will present in the coming months, and it will address many of the conditions imposed by this support package in a commercially viable and responsible manner. The Dutch state has also showed its strong commitment in the form of a EUR 2 billion-EUR 4 billion financing package to KLM, which currently remains under discussion.
The strategic priorities we set in November 2019 during our Capital Markets Day remain just as vital now as they were six months ago. This plan must be accelerated, and over the past two months, we have made notable progress. In 2019, Air France launched an ambitious transformation plan to fix its current broken model and boost its profitability by increasing operational efficiency and simplifying processes, and pivoting towards the most profitable flows in order to extract maximum value from the Paris market.
KLM will continue to develop its current business model, further growing as the best connection carrier in Europe. KLM will keep continuous focus on cost and operational excellence, and leverage and evolve its global brand to remain a top customer choice and increase its profitability. Transavia is our tool to address the price-sensitive market with an efficient and attractive low-cost option. In the coming years, Transavia will serve point-to-point destinations from Amsterdam, Paris-Orly, and the French provinces, taking advantage of unlimited growth potential now available at the French subsidiary. It targets to be number one or number two in all bases in which it operates. Looking ahead, our three airline brands have clear roadmaps to support the execution of the Air France-KLM Group strategy during the years to come.
The airlines are discussing internally how to best adapt to a post-COVID reality, including through a resizing and restructuring of business activities, employee headcount, and fleet, which I'll speak to in a minute. The forecasted resizing of management and support functions at KLM and Air France is consistent and in line with their own internal transformation plans and projects. KLM has already announced a voluntary departure plan it plans to make available to all employees effective June 1st. While a similar project is still under discussion with labor groups at Air France, which will begin by encouraging mobility from the provinces to Paris. Constructive discussions with elected employee representatives are currently underway in order to enable this accelerated transformation from a labor perspective. The Air France-KLM Group's transformation must also have ambitious environmental goals.
We are committed to a more virtuous, more sustainable aviation model that is better adapted to the world and to our customers of tomorrow. Both KLM and Air France will reduce CO2 emissions per passenger kilometer by 50% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. Fleet adjustments and the utilization of second-generation aviation biofuels is key, and we will play a large part in the establishment of a European aviation biofuel industry. As the recognized leader in the airline industry's energy transition for the past 15 years, acknowledged by multi-year first-place rankings on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the Group is preparing to accelerate its commitment to the environment. Air France's domestic network will undergo an accelerated overhaul in order to both meet the environmental targets set by the French government, as well as being financially break even by 2021.
Capacity will be reduced by 40% over the course of this period and includes the closure of routes where a train alternative less than two hours and 30 minutes is available, and which do not feed the hub at Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle. The achieved labor stability lays the foundation for constructive discussions with elected employee representatives on the Group's restructuring plan, such as resizing the organization in order to adapt to post-crisis activity levels.
Following the November 2019 priorities, the various Air France-KLM divisions, cargo, commercial, engineering and maintenance, and IT, have been hard at work on their own restructuring plans, which will be accelerated wherever possible. In terms of fleet, due to plant closures and the aircraft manufacturers, we will be delaying the entry into service of some of our Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s at both KLM and Air France.
In addition, we have already accelerated the phase-out of the Airbus A340s and Airbus A380s at Air France, as well as KLM's Boeing 747 fleet. The earlier-than-planned exit of these aircraft help position our airlines to both meet their environmental objectives, as well as help us achieve further fleet simplification and harmonization by reducing the number of fleet types at each airline. KLM is already far along in this regard, with 67 wide-body aircraft in the winter 2019 season. Going forward, by removing the Boeing 747 from its fleet, KLM will rely most heavily on the Boeing 777 and 787, which carry a common pilot type rating, a very unique and efficient strength. The Airbus A330-200 and 300 fleet will remain for now as per our original medium-term plan.
Should we see additional reduced demand in the future due to a prolonged recovery, we have the downward flexibility to reduce the number of A330s in service at KLM earlier than planned. At Air France, there are currently 109 wide-body aircraft in the fleet. With the exit of the Airbus A340s and Airbus A380s, this will reduce the Air France fleet from six to four aircraft types, an improvement in fleet harmony by one-third. The Boeing 777-200ER and Airbus A330-200 fleet provide the downward flexibility at Air France, giving the airline the necessary flexibility to weather any future storms on the horizon. We don't yet know how our customers' travel habits will change, or how quickly they will start traveling again. Recovery of capacity and demand remains uncertain given several unknowable variables and moving targets.
In any scenario, recovery is expected to be slow, around two to three years at least, and the ability to manage these variables will determine the speed of our recovery. First and foremost, the recovery path will be dictated by the ability to contain the spread of the virus, and most likely to adapt to its existence during an unknown period. Secondly, as airlines, our ability to build trust with customers in terms of sanitary measures is key. Therefore, internationally recognized and agreed upon health standards are vital, both to ensure safety and to permit synchronized and homogeneous airline operations around the world in a post-COVID reality. Thirdly, the lockdowns implemented in many countries will significantly impact consumer behavior with the rise of working from home and video conferencing over the past few months, replacing business travel.
The more entrenched this behavior becomes, the greater the impact to our industry's recovery path, especially as many businesses might continue to restrict travel for cost and health reasons. Finally, we expect the airline sector to be reshaped going forward. This is without doubt. As the crisis continues, we will see some less sure-footed airlines go bankrupt. Many airlines are already going into administration, such as Avianca and Virgin Australia, while many others are shrinking, notably through workforce reduction plans. This global capacity reduction might dampen the expected yield decreases due to previous overcapacity in the market. What is certain is that we need to rethink our model, rethink our network, our markets, our services, our products, and our customer relationships. We will have to continue to reflect on our working methods and make them even more efficient.
We have started to work on this across the airlines and business units of the Air France-KLM group, but we are going to have to move very quickly and rebuild a different group in a deeply shaken airline industry. By summer 2020, the group will present a new accelerated transformation plan aimed at being ready for the post-COVID-19 world.
The industry will need to respond to these expectations through various measures by various industry stakeholders, most notably through strong alignment from airports, airlines, and governments around the world. As you can see, the challenges are immense, and I can assure you that I am totally confident, and I trust that we'll be able to rebuild an Air France-KLM group, which will be strong and a leading player in our industry. I first have full trust in the teams of the group.
What we have started to achieve when I took the helm and from the beginning of this crisis, has been huge. Our ability to adapt very quickly, standing as united and in mutual support and sharing common goals. I have full trust in the management of the group, in the CEO Committee, in Pieter, in Anne, in Frédéric, as well as all of the management line of the group. I can testify to the great sense of pride I and we all draw from working with all these people. You can count on my personal dedication and full commitment so that we weather this crisis and that we go on with our successful transformation to be an efficient leading group on the path of sustainable transition. Much is what we wish for Air France-KLM. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Ben, says Anne-Marie Couderc. Thank you for this summary. I suggest now that we watch a short video on the Group, and then I will take over to speak to you about the work done by the Board of Directors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated companies, countries, and economies. The scale of the impact on the airline industry has been totally unprecedented, prompting the grounding of virtually all the flights. As it has done time and again in its history, the Air France-KLM Group has responded to this crisis with impressive resoluteness. By maintaining a minimum schedule, we have made essential travel possible. While the global airspace was shutting down at exceptional speed, Air France, KLM, and Transavia flights enabled the repatriation of more than 500,000 fellow European citizens who were stranded abroad. Thank you and well done.
[Presentation]
Dear shareholders, I will take over in my capacity as chairperson of the Appointment and Governance Committee, so that I share with you the work conducted by the board of directors and the board committees. Remember that since May 2018, our company has opted for disconnecting the roles between the chairpersonship of the board and the CEOship of the group.
2019 showed that this governance decision was very relevant, making it possible for top management to focus on operational and strategic issues, while the chairperson has taken on the issues connected with governance and relations with public powers, among others. Remember that in 2019, the board approved unanimously a proposal made by Ben Smith to expand the role of the CEO Committee, which he chairs, who has Frédéric Gagey, Anne Rigail, and Pieter Elbers as members, the goal being to improve the efficiency and profitability of the group.
Ben Smith was then able to build upon a reinforced management governance via the CEO Committee to set the strategic directions of the group, which were approved by your board of directors and were then able to implement such directions. Remember also that Ben Smith is a member of the boards of directors of Air France-KLM, of course, but also of Air France, and is a member of the supervisory board of KLM. This allows Ben Smith to transmit a common share strategic vision to these three governance bodies. Our board of directors has 19 members. It has a great diversity with respecting nationalities, stakeholders, with gender balance between men and women, and skills. The diversity of board member profiles has been a strength and an asset for our group.
The ambition of the policy to identify and select board members has been to give preference to profiles with international exposure, with knowledge of the transportation and aviation industry, as well as expertise on customer relationship, digital technology, and corporate and social responsibility. The makeup of your board illustrates the equilibrium or balance between those board members representing our four major shareholders, the French state, the Dutch state, Delta Air Lines, and SkyTeam airlines, as well as the independent board members and the board members representing salaried employees and shareholder salaried employees. I would like to thank the members of the both committees, as well as the chairpersons of these board committees for their hard work, dedication throughout 2019 with a very high attendance rate on the level of 94%.
With respect to the Audit Committee, which is chaired by Maryse Aulagnon, it focused its work on reviewing the accounts, financial statements, preparing for the budget, monitoring the risks, CapEx and investments, especially connected with the fleet and fleet management, as well as the aspects connected with the hedging policy of the group. 2019, in this respect, was the first year when the Sustainability Committee was introduced and played its full part. The group has been very much engaged in social, societal, and environmental issues, especially with respect to its very bold and ambitious goal with respect to environmental transition. The work conducted by the Sustainability Committee, which is chaired by Anne-Marie Idrac, has reinforced the level of information and sharing and knowledge of the board in this respect.
With respect to the Compensation Committee, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who is a non-independent board member, has been so since the moment when the Dutch state took a stake in the capital equity of the group in February 2019. He was replaced in his role as a chairperson for this committee by Madame Isabelle Bouillot, and I would like to thank her. Isabelle Bouillot will be presenting to you the work conducted by this Compensation Committee in a video, which we'll be watching when we vote on the resolutions. I take advantage of this AGM to very warmly thank Jaap de Hoop Scheffer for his dedication to the Air France-KLM group throughout the years when he served on our board. Finally, the Appointments and Governance Committee, which I chair, which is made up of Jean-Dominique Comolli and Alexander Wynaendts, was very much called upon in 2019.
He had to play a very active role in preparing the discussions on the governance mechanisms of the group, jointly with the French and Dutch states. I would like to review the key highlights for 2019. In February of 2019, as I said, the Dutch state took a stake in the capital of our group. Following the setting up of a working group between the French and the Dutch states, the Board of Directors has wanted to conduct an analysis of the governance agreements in effect since 2003, the Board of Directors had set for itself the goal of simplifying some existing rules between the group level and the two airlines. These discussions and this development work was stopped due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis.
The board of directors also actively participated in the various stages of building up Air France-KLM strategic plan, especially with respect to the 5th of November Capital Markets Day. The board of directors was able to approve the financial targets, the long-term financial targets and goals of the group with a very ambitious target to improve its margin better than its competitors. The board of directors monitored the first steps in implementing this plan during the business review, reviewing the key stages of the Air France transformation plan. Since March of 2020, as was mentioned by Ben Smith and by Frédéric Gagey, our group has been very harshly impacted by this unprecedented crisis, with a very severe impact on our business operations, which has required very quick and very drastic measures, both internally and externally.
Once again, I would like to thank our Board, which has met every week since the month of March, to provide support to the top management in this unprecedented period, which is so special for the future of Air France-KLM, Transavia, and HOP! Airlines. If I may, we will go to the appointments, reappointments, and ratification of co-optation of the Board members on your Board. It is my honor to call you for reappointing me. I was appointed as an independent Director on the Board of Air France-KLM for the first time in 2016. Remember that I also chair the Appointments and Governance, and have been chairing it since 2016. You have some biographics here on the slide, you have more detailed information in the brochure next with the convening notice. You are called upon to renew my term for a four-year period.
Next reappointment is Mr. Alexander Wynaendts, who was first appointed in 2016. He's been a member on the Appointments and Governance Committee since 2016. Alexander Wynaendts has more than 30 years' experience in insurance, business, and international finance. Since 2008, he was the Chair and CEO of Aegon, and his term of office terminated in April of 2020. You are called upon to reappoint him for a four-year term. Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the board member appointed on a proposal by the Dutch state, let us know on the 19th of February 2020 that he resigned from his term of office, effective today. To replace him, and upon a proposal by the Dutch state, we suggest that Mr. Dirk Jan van den Berg be appointed for a four-year term.
Mr. Van den Berg will contribute to our board his experience in the field of economic and industrial policy, in diplomacy, and his very great international culture. Since 2020, Mr. Van den Berg has been the Chair of the Association of Health Insurance Companies in the Netherlands. Mr. Jian Wang was co-opted by our board on the 30th of July 2019 upon a proposal by China Eastern Airlines, following the resignation of Mr. Bing Tang. Mr. Wang is also a member of the Sustainable Development and Compliance Committee.
Mr. Wang has rich experience and knowledge with respect to corporate governance, investments, and management responsibilities in the airline industry. He currently serves as Secretary General to China Eastern Airlines. You are requested to ratify this co-optation for the length of the remaining term, that is the AGM to take place in 2021. I would like to thank you, dear shareholders, for your attention. I will now give the floor to Frédéric Gagey, who will take you through the statutory auditor's report. Over to you, Frédéric.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Given the very special terms of our general meeting, the auditors are not attending the meeting with us today. With their agreement, I will proceed on their behalf with the presentation of their report, and therefore I will read the speech that they sent me. Reports on the consolidated accounts on the annual accounts for the fiscal year 2019, dated February 19, 2020, are shown respectively on pages 321 and 340 of the universal document for 2019.
We certify those accounts. It's unqualified in light of the IFRS repository as approved in the European Union for consolidated accounts and in light of the French accounting principles and rules for the annual statements. These accounts were decided upon on the 19th of February 2020 by the board, taking into account the available information at this date regarding, especially the health crisis related to the COVID-19.
Since that date, disclosures were made to you by the board on the events that occurred and the elements known after these accounts were set relative to the development of the crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, through the press releases of March 10th, 13th of March, 16th of March, the 9th of April 2020, and in the universal recording document submitted to the French regulator, the AMF, on the 17th of April, and with the following parts: recent events, outlook for 2020, and risk factors. This year, the auditors draw your attention onto the following method-related changes, which do not challenge our opinion on the consolidated accounts. First of all, booking the documents with a limited lifespan per components, then accounting for compensation paid out to customers resulting from delays and cancellations. These are so-called client or customer compensations.
Our reports include a description of material misstatement risks, which we feel have been the most important for the audit of the accounts for the fiscal year 2019, as well as a summary of the work we conducted in order to respond to that. Those risks, which are named as key audit items, reflect mainly the main discussions we had with management and with the Audit Committee of the board.
The key points of the audit bear upon this year on the revenue as it relates to the tickets issued but not used, the assessment of provisions for litigation and liabilities, and booking the deferred asset taxes and the assessment of securities. Regarding the annual statements, we have no observation to express on the fact that the disclosure are true and regular, and as it disregards with the annual and consolidated accounts.
In addition, we have issued a special report on the regulated agreements on page 344 of the universal recording document, which describes the agreements between your company and the companies that have common directors, or between your company and one of their directors. One single agreement was authorized in 2019. It involves a change of agreements as they relate to the Transatlantic partnership between Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, and Virgin Atlantic in order to reflect, among others, the Air France-KLM decision of not acquiring a stake in Virgin Atlantic. The reasons warranting the interest of these two agreements for the company are laid out on page 345 of this so-called universal document.
Lastly, we have issued two reports, which include the following transactions when it comes to the extraordinary resolutions of your general meeting. A report on the resolution with regard to the issuance of shares and various securities with maintaining or waiving the preferential subscription right, and a report in terms of resolution on the increase in capital for employees who are part of a corporate savings scheme. The terms described in the board report relative to these transactions do not require any remarks or observations from us, subject to a subsequent consideration of the conditions of issuance. We will issue, if it's necessary, an additional report when we examine the conditions for setting the price of issuance. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, we thank you for your attention.
The chair now. Thank you, Frédéric. This ends the various presentations. We will now be able to move to the Q&A session, and I turn it over now to Anne-Sophie.
Thank you very much, Anne-Marie. Our general meeting is taking place behind closed doors, therefore, you cannot ask questions in session. However, many of you asked us questions before our meeting, and I thank you for that. You will find all these questions, as well as the answers provided by the Board on our internet website. The CEO Committee will now answer some of your questions. The first question is the following one: The group is currently losing EUR 25 million per day, and has obtained a EUR 7 billion aid. The group has stated that they will not find before 2020 the capacity level of 2019. How does the group think it can pay back such assistance? Thank you, Frédéric Gagey, for answering this question.
On the amount of the losses, we are clear. We didn't hide the fact that this situation was very tough, and when I mentioned in my presentation the possibility of a negative EBITDA for 2020, I think it's a strong signal showing that the economic situation for the time being, based on our assumptions, is a situation, obviously, which is extremely tough for us, but also for all the global airlines also, to be very clear. Look at the list of the airlines that said they would be under Chapter 11 in the U.S., or indicated of getting to a very dire situation. Perhaps two remarks on the question as it was expressed. First of all, the fact of having received assistance is it an increase of our debt?
First of all, we have a bigger debt. We have more cash. In a way, the net debt remains stable for the time being. What will matter in the coming month are two significant elements. The first one, I believe, is our own internal resources. Look, Ben has already widely elaborated on what was committed at the beginning of the crisis. For my part, I insisted on what we had done in terms of safeguarding our cash, the savings schemes, and the reduction of our CapEx plans. It is clear that our ability to face a crisis will be something major in the coming months. The second thing is what will be the scope of this crisis? Will it stop at the end of the summer, at the end of the winter? Will it last for two years?
Clearly, the deterioration of our balance sheet, which will take place, which is taking place, will all the stronger if the crisis is long. If the crisis is shorter, we might see things being more manageable in terms of our balance. These are the two elements that we should have in mind when we talk about our ability to pay back such aid. If it's not too long, this crisis, if the steps that we've taken are good, and if the group in a few months will break out perhaps in a deteriorated situation, but manageable.
If the crisis is much more dire than the soft scenario, and despite the very strong steps that we would be taking, the impact in that case could be major on our balance sheet structure. In that case, to be very clear, and this is what lies behind the question raised. Well, strengthening equity probably will have to be identified by the board.
Thank you very much, Frédéric. A new question around the Air France-KLM recovery plan following the support of the French state. What are its ambitions and its timetable? Ben Smith, please.
Yes. Thank you, Anne-Sophie. As many of you know, we presented a strategic outlook plan, go forward plan in November of last year, that outlined each one of our strategies and targets for the medium term. That plan is still solid. As we said during the presentation today, that plan was on track throughout December and the early part of this year. We are now going to accelerate that to ensure that we have a recovery as best and as quickly as possible. The French domestic market, ensuring the transformation of the French domestic market takes place in a accelerated fashion. That is one of our priorities. Putting more emphasis on the impact, our environmental impact footprint is another one of our major axes.
We do have extensive work going on with all the teams to make sure we have a comprehensive, updated business plan that we will present to the Board of Directors and to the French State, in the middle of the summer. Once we have more clarity around support from the Dutch State, we will try to align the updated business plans that we will be working on. I'd say that is the overall picture on that.
[Non-English content] Thank you very much, Ben. A question for Pieter Elbers around KLM. What are the major challenges in terms of KLM's transformation in order to adjust to the post-COVID-19 world? Pieter?
Yeah. We had actually a pretty sound business model just before COVID, and clearly we're adapting ourselves now for a world after COVID, where the demand is going to be less than it is today. I would just like to express, I'm very grateful and proud on all the staff who are working today in the very difficult circumstances, and in fact, rebuilding up the airline after a time where we had very little to no flights during the month of April. Today in May, we are operating roughly 25%-30% of our network, and especially in the field of cargo, we are building up a lot of capabilities in attracting business towards that. We've introduced a wide range of new sanitary measures, which is really helping us to make sure that our customers are having a safe and comfortable journey.
The world behind COVID or the world after COVID will depend on how well are we able to guarantee a safe and comfortable flight for our customers. It's even more important now than it was in the past. We have launched a whole range of initiatives in order to do so, that will sort of speed up the transformation. Of course, we keep in mind various scenarios when it comes to what is going to be the precise numbers and precise amount of demand post-COVID. Thank you.
Thank you, Pieter. New question. What are the social distancing rules that will be applied by Air France on its flights in order to spur passengers to feel totally confident on boarding aircraft? Anne Rigail, please.
Certainly. The safety of our customers and of our staff is our absolute priority, and a significant recovery requires confidence, a fact of being able to reassure our customers by rolling out robust health-related steps. We announced this in the past few months, since the 11th of May, for all the flights, we put in place a temperature control or check of our customers, when checking in with a contactless thermometer.
It's now mandatory to wear a mask for our staff and for our customers when they arrive in the airport, and also in our flights. In the airports, we have worked with the airport people to have social distancing that is adequate in order to separate the customers from our staff with plexiglasses. We also strengthened all the cleaning procedures in airports, but also in our aircraft. Every surface area in contact with our customers are cleaned completely.
We even have a specific procedure every five years where we have a remanent impact. We have strengthened procedures. Service on board is adapted in order to avoid useless contact between customers and staff on board. In every cabin, we are putting in place a seating, the way we seat our customers, in order to have enough distance whenever possible. Today, our load factors are not exceeding on average 50%. Therefore, we are doing this for most of our flights, bearing in mind that the wearing of mask, which is mandatory for our customers and for our crews, guarantees the appropriate health protection. The aircraft cabins are very special environments. Be aware of this.
Within the air in the cabin, which is renewed every three minutes, is filtered with very special filters as well, which we call high efficiency filters, which are the same ones that equip surgery rooms, and they can retain the viruses at more than 99.99%, among them, the COVID virus.
Thank you very much Anne. A new question: What is the Air France policy and for KLM in terms of reimbursing tickets if there's a cancellation flight related to the COVID-19? Pieter Elbers, would you like to answer, please?
Yes. Thank you. Mentioned already a couple of times this afternoon, the situation we have encountered with COVID-19 has been unprecedented for everyone, for our customers for us as airlines as well. Of course, all the negative consequences are first and foremost very regrettable for our customers with so many flights which had to be canceled due to all the regulations we are facing in so many countries. Due to this sort of unprecedented size and scope, we took the decision with many airlines and approved in many countries to not issue money, but to issue vouchers.
After a while, the situation has stabilized somewhat. Therefore, as from the middle of March, we have adapted our policy, also guided by some of the EU decisions, and we revised it where customers do have a choice for vouchers or for cash. Clearly, we would like to keep our customers on board of our future flights and restore the confidence in flying. Therefore, we have added a 15%, one five, not surcharge, but actually added value to the vouchers for our customers to use going forward. It's a way to show confidence to our customers. It's a way to show confidence in future travel. By doing so, we give the opportunity for customers to choose cash now if they wish so, or use the voucher in the future with a 15% more value.
[Foreign language], Pieter. Thank you very much, Pieter. A question for Frédéric Gagey. Recently, U.S. companies, which Kohl's Management and Donald Smith & Co, each crossed the 5% threshold to reach together more than 12% of the Air France-KLM capital. Wouldn't we fear a change of the Air France-KLM control for the benefit of non-European shareholders?
I think it's a good thing to have shareholders who are a bit diversified. American shareholders is not a problem, especially the two names mentioned in the question are names that we know quite well. I think the Donald Smith & Co was a shareholder of KLM before the merger. You see, and Causeway is also an investment company, financial funds that we see quite often when we visit shareholders or in meetings with financial partners. These two partners or these two shareholders are well-known.
They have levels within our equity, which has been changing, sometimes upwards, sometimes downward. The question is this putting at risk the structure of the Group's capital or equity? There are two things that should be kept in mind. First of all, we have reference shareholders. I have in mind the two governments. There are also employees who are present as shareholders, and therefore, we have a stable core beyond the Delta and China Eastern. When it comes to the European situation, as you know, it's mandatory for every airline that is a European one, due to the legislation on traffic rights on the international basis, to have more than its equity held by shareholders who are European.
I've shown you in the presentation earlier on that it was widely the case, and by the way, even though we would potentially exclude the British shareholders, the situation would still be favorable in terms of respecting that rule. Today, there's no problem, I believe, when it comes to European control of our equity and the presence of long-term investors, especially our employees and the two states, which represent more than 28% of the capital. I believe these are guarantees so that there won't be any risk in terms of the European rules.
Thank you very much, Frédéric. A question for Anne Rigail . In terms of the loan granted to Air France-KLM by the French state, Air France has committed itself to make its transformation. What labor, what dialogue with your social partners, with the unions, and how quickly?
It could not be considered to have such an in-depth transformation of its model without a dialogue or a negotiation with the unions and employee representatives. You continue to talk with these organizations based on the principles that have been laid out now for quite some time. The respect, the non-disclosure, and trust principles have enabled us to have, again, before the crisis, social dialogue and maintain it alive despite the seriousness and complexity of the matters that we are facing.
There are discussions and negotiations that have been initiated around the Transformation Plan, and we have committed ourselves to going back to the representative organizations in the coming weeks to identify the impacts of the speeding up of this Transformation Plan in terms of timetable. This should take our energy until the end of the fall. More widely, we wish to have a permanent social dialogue to support the reconstruction plan in the coming years.
Thank you very much, Anne. A question for Ben now, Ben Smith. The COVID crisis, does it challenge our alliances and partnership, especially with Delta and China Eastern?
During this crisis, the help and the partnership that we have with many carriers around the world, but in particular, Delta and China Eastern, have helped us. We expect as we return to activity, that we will be in a stronger position vis-à-vis our partners, thanks to these strong partnerships. The joint venture, which we have across the Atlantic, between Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic, as well as Delta, is a huge strength for our group.
It will help us restart operations ahead of some of our competitors. Delta Air Lines being the largest airline in the U.S., is a big strength for our group. Of course, China Eastern with their main base at Shanghai. Our partnerships are more important than ever. The SkyTeam alliance is more important than ever, and we view both of these as very strong assets to Air France-KLM.
[Foreign language] Thank you very much, Ben. A new question for Frédéric Gagey. If you have maybe some negotiation for the Dutch state, how come it could not take place with the required support with the French state?
These state-related assistance with companies who are hit hard by a crisis are governed by European tax. Additionally, each country has to implement them based on its own rules. For example, the rules governing state guarantee are different in France from the Netherlands, or the need of going before the parliaments with a debate, or maybe passing a law are quite different between the Netherlands and France. That two processes were undertaken in parallel. One took more time than the other.
Right from the outset, in substance, in terms of state assistance for domestic airlines, had to take place in the legal context of each state. This is why these two processes were undertaken in parallel, even though between Air France and KLM, there was a dialogue on a constant basis. There's no other reason beyond the fact that we had to have separate discussions because we are in two different countries, even though these two aids, these two rescue plans, go to Air France and to KLM.
Thank you very much, Frédéric. The airline business already had difficulties before the COVID-19 with the new environmental surge. What are the new commitments of Air France-KLM in terms of sustainable development in the after world? I thank Ben for answering this question, and Anne and Pieter, if they want to supplement this.
In 2019, the group achieved a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from a base date of 2005. Air France-KLM has set a target for itself of CO2 reduction of 50% between now and 2030. To this end, the group has implemented a climate action plan to reduce its carbon footprint. This is composed of three main priorities: fleet modernization, contributing to an aeronautical research, use of sustainable biofuels, and involvement in research into renewable energies. As I just mentioned, reduction in CO2 through operational measures.
The support for the implementation of the global climate agreement, otherwise known as CORSIA, with a fair contribution for aviation. Regulatory and voluntary offsetting of CO2 emissions, support for environmental programs, and the rollout of carbon offsetting programs for customers. Maybe Anne can get into more detail about what specifically Air France is doing when it comes to the environment, and Pieter can do the same for KLM. Thanks.
Well, Air France, it was part of the group's commitments before the COVID outbreak. We committed ourselves to reduce in CO2 pipe percentage a kilometer by 50% by 2030, relative to a benchmark year, 2005, and we had been half of the way in 2019. The first lever for that commitment is renewing the fleet, next to many other actions such as co-piloting, less weight or regulatory compensation or voluntary compensation. The trajectory is speeding up with this COVID crisis since the withdrawal of the four-engine aircraft like the A340, Airbus A340 and A380, which had been planned but for later on are being operated immediately, and these aircraft will be replaced for the long haul by Airbus A350s that will be entering gradually into our fleet and consume 25% less fuel than the aircraft that they are replacing.
For the commitments that are specific as part of the support by the French State, the loans guaranteed by the State, we've taken new commitments which concern the domestic network in France, which can be split around three axes. The first one is to reduce our CO2 emissions in the domestic French in absolute value by 50% by the end of 2024, relative to 2019. The second one is to continue what we have been doing since the start of the year to offset on a voluntary basis all our CO2 emissions on the domestic network.
Finally, it's about reducing the domestic networks if there's an efficient train alternative, that is an alternative with a trip of less than two and a half hours by excluding flights that feed or that open onto the world. These are the flights from Orly towards France or from French regions to other French regions. On this last point, we are considering with all the relevant partners about the best way to include rail alternatives with a multimodal efficient approach, but without this hurting the Air France group in regard to indirect competitors.
Yeah. Also for KLM, the topic of sustainability has been very important and indispensable part of our strategy, actually for many years already. When we have embarked on that strategy of the importance on sustainability, we have taken numerous actions throughout the years. Started with the pioneering in the field of biofuel, but also many of the other initiatives, which at the end of the day reflected in this very strong position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which Air France-KLM already holds for 15 years. Specifically at KLM in 2019, we have taken some bold actions and bold moves, and I think the most important two ones to mention here are the initiative we took around the biofuel factory to be built in the Netherlands. Secondly, the Fly Responsibly initiative, which we'll have launched, in 2019.
The reactions to that initiative have been very positive, and we will continue with these initiatives even after the COVID-19 or after the COVID-19 timeframe we're in now. Sustainability has become increasingly important for the airline industry, therefore, it has been an integral part of our strategy and it will remain an integral part of our strategy also going forward. The initiatives we took in 2019 will be continued and will be carried forward as well in 2020.
[Non-English content] Thank you very much to you three for these answers. A question to Anne. Angus Clarke was recently appointed as a Chief Commercial Officer for Air France. Can you explain the reasons for this and what the ambition is?
Yes. Well, indeed, there are two main reasons for appointing Angus Clarke as Chief Commercial Officer. Angus is still, EVP Strategy for the Air France-KLM Group. Also he had a cross-functional, non-formalized role within Air France, coordinating the network planning, fleet management, customer experience function. With this appointment, Air France has formalized this role. The second reason is that we are in a context of a major crisis for the air transport industry, we have to reinforce all the actions, which will fuel the recovery of our financial trajectory so that we can repay the state backed and the banking loans.
We've implemented strict management mechanisms to ensure cost reductions, but we have to reinforce the revenue side measures. Angus will be tasked with working on reinforcing the revenue side mechanisms. He's in charge of coordinating the sales and marketing levers and revenue levers. He will put into place governance mechanisms to ensure the steering and coherence and consistency of all these levers, in particular between the network fleet management, customer experience teams of Air France as well as the sales and revenue management and pricing teams of the Air France-KLM group.
Thank you very much, Anne. A new question to Pieter Elbers. What action has KLM taken to restart its operations after weeks of reduced activity?
Important point, this is one of the reasons why we have never stopped our operations actually, why we have continued, even in the worst month, in April, with a meaningful operation. I think we have demonstrated to be flexible by first putting the combi aside putting back the combi aircraft in order to meet the cargo demand, it has demonstrated our flexibility. We have further stepped up capacity, we will continue to do so the coming months. This is also why, it was in the presentation of Ben, we have made some more flexible approach towards the Airbus A330s. We didn't park them completely. We stopped them for a while, they'll be put back in operations.
The entire company is in fact ready to restart, and even in terms of keeping our crews current levels, it is good to see that our crews are back in the flight. In fact, I took this flight this morning from Amsterdam to Paris. I hadn't taken flight for a long time, for this reason, and our crew was happy to fly and you could see that our teams are ready to welcome the customers back on board when we have a more stable environment.
Thank you very much, Pieter. A last question to Ben Smith. What will be Air France-KLM's group's position with respect to consolidation in the industry in the coming month?
Has always been extremely important and, with the COVID-19 crisis, this will probably accelerate. As I mentioned earlier, we expect numerous airlines to disappear or to become much more fragile. We will study all of these opportunities as they come up, as we always do. If there is something that is appropriate within our risk profile, we will definitely move forward or make an effort to move forward on that.
Our number one priority is ensuring that our base operation, so engineering and maintenance, IT, cargo, as well as our three airline brands, KLM, Transavia, and Air France, regain their strong footing, and ensure that we protect the markets in which we operate. That is our number one priority. Of course, as I said, if there is a unique opportunity, within our risk profile, we will definitely study and take action, if required.
[Foreign language] Thank you very much, Ben. Well, says the chair. This ends our Q&A session, which was of course in a very special format because it wasn't verbal with people asking questions in person, but people put their questions in writing. I hope we appropriately answered your questions with this Q&A session. I will turn over again to Anne-Sophie so that she presents to you the results of voting on the resolutions. Anne-Sophie, over to you.
Thank you very much, Anne-Marie. Remember that the final quorum is 66.25%. This quorum takes into account the frozen voting rights of some shareholders because they reported the crossing of the statutory thresholds too late. Now, with respect to the COVID crisis and the fact that the AGM is being organized behind closed doors, the voting was closed at 3:00 P.M. Paris time.
No voting will proceed in session, and I will be presenting to you the results of voting following the reading out of each resolution. Let us start with the ordinary business resolutions. The first resolution is with respect to the approval of the statutory financial statements for the year ended 31st of December 2019, with a net loss of EUR 11 million. The resolution was adopted at 19.96%.
The second resolution was with respect to approving the consolidated financial statements and transactions for the financial year ended 31st of November 2019, with a net income of EUR 290 million. The resolution was approved by 99.96%. The third resolution was with respect to allocating the result for the financial year ended 31st of December 2019. It is recommended that the loss for the financial year be allocated to the retained earnings. The resolution was approved by 99.94% of you.
The fourth resolution was about approving the regulated party agreements with respect to the transatlantic partnership between Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, and Virgin Atlantic. The resolution was approved by 99.94%. The fifth resolution is with respect to the reappointment of Ms. Anne-Marie Couderc as a board director for a four-year term of office. The resolution was approved by 99.64%. The sixth resolution is with respect to the reappointment of Mr. Alexander Wynaendts as a board director for a four-year term. The resolution was adopted by 94.93%. The seventh resolution is with respect to the appointment of Mr. Dirk Van den Berg as the board director for a four-year term of office. This resolution was approved by 99.16%.
The eighth resolution was with respect to ratifying the co-optation of Mr. Jian Wang as a member of the Board of Directors for a term which will expire at the 2021 AGM. Resolution approved by 99.53%. The ninth resolution was about reappointing KPMG as a principal statutory auditor. The resolution was also approved by 99.74%. The 10th resolution was about the appointment of the deputy statutory auditor with Salustro Reydel being appointed, a resolution which was approved by 99.86%. I will now move to resolutions associated with the compensation of company officers, and before I review the resolutions and the results of the voting, I suggest we watch a video by Isabelle Bouillot, who chairs the Compensation Committee, and she will be reviewing the main aspects and elements of the compensation for company officers for 2019/2020.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, in my capacity as Chair of the Compensation Committee of your Board of Directors, I am going to outline for you the main items of compensation for fiscal 2019, together with the 2020 compensation policy. These items are detailed in the so-called Universal Registration Document will be put to your vote in resolutions 11 to 16.
Let us start with compensation granted to all of the Board Directors in respect of fiscal 2019, amounting to EUR 826,417 in accordance with the allocation modalities as defined by the Board of Directors in its meeting of the 11th of December 2019. With respect to the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, her fixed compensation for fiscal 2019 amounted to EUR 200,000. For our Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to the decisions taken by the Board in 2018, the 2019 compensation is composed of the following items.
Fixed compensation of EUR 900,000, unchanged since 2018. Annual variable compensation, which was set by the board at EUR 768,456, representing 85.4% of fixed compensation, i.e., an achievement rate of 70% on the performance criteria. Finally, long-term variable compensation was granted to him in FY 2019 in the amount of EUR 2 million, divided into two plans, one conferring the right to performance units, and the other conferring the right to shares. These two plans are subject to ambitious performance terms and conditions, which were set by the board and which will be assessed over a three-year period. Now, let us move on to the compensation policy in respect of FY 2020.
Within the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, the chair of the board of directors decided to forfeit the increase in her compensation to EUR 220,000 as proposed by the board and decided to return to the same amount of annual fixed compensation as in fiscal 2019, i.e., EUR 200,000. She also decided to subject her fixed compensation to the same salary terms and conditions as those to be applied to all Air France and Air France-KLM employees during the period of so-called partial activity. No other items or elements of compensation are foreseen. With respect to all board directors, the maximum amount of compensation to be allocated for fiscal 2020 is EUR 950,000, unchanged on its level in 2018 and 2019.
Here you can see the allocation modalities for this compensation, composed of a fixed portion and a variable portion based on the attendance of board directors at board meetings and based on their participation in board committees. In solidarity with the context of crisis, the board directors have decided to reduce their 2020 compensation by some 25% pro rata temporis for the periods of so-called partial activity as applied to all employees. With respect to our Chief Executive Officer, you will see on the screen a diagram recapping his compensation policy for fiscal 2020. Our Chief Executive Officer's fixed compensation remains unchanged on its level in 2018 and 2019 and will amount to EUR 900,000 for fiscal 2020.
It is important to note that in solidarity, on March 20th, 2020, our CEO decided to subject his 2020 fixed monthly compensation to the same salary terms and conditions as those applied to all of Air France and Air France-KLM employees, i.e., a reduction of 25% during the period of so-called partial activity. For the annual variable portion, in view of the exceptional COVID-19 public health emergency, the board decided to undertake an in-depth review of the performance criteria applicable to the CEO's annual variable compensation, as well as the assessment modalities, so that they can be adjusted to this major crisis, selecting only two criteria.
A financial criterion linked to the management of cash, accounting for 70% of the assessment, and another individual criterion relating to the management of the crisis and the development of a strategic recovery plan, accounting for 30% of the assessment. Furthermore, the board also left open the possibility of granting no variable portion, depending on how the situation develops over the course of 2020. Lastly, Mr. Ben Smith has already forfeited his annual variable compensation with respect to the 2020 financial year. Let us now move on to the long-term variable compensation.
In accordance with the decisions that had been taken by the board of directors back in 2018, Mr. Ben Smith also benefits from long-term variable compensation in the amount of EUR 2 million, divided into two plans. A performance unit plan payable at the end of a three-year period, and a second plan, which is a specific long-term incentive plan, which is focused on the group's medium and long-term objectives, which targets an improvement in the operating performance and targeting the environmental and societal priorities. Thank you for your attention.
Right. Before we move on to voting on the 11th resolution, I want to correct a mistake. For resolution number six, the result is 94.93%. Let us move on to the 11th resolution with respect to compensation for all directors, that is all board members. The resolution was adopted by 99.68%. Twelfth resolution, with respect to approving the 2019 compensation for the chair of the board of directors. The resolution was approved by 84.3%. Thirteenth resolution, approving the compensation of the CEO, Benjamin Smith. A compensation which is approved by 81.01%. 14th resolution, with respect to approving the 2020 compensation policy for the chair of the board of directors. This resolution was approved by 84.3%. 15th resolution, relative to approving the 2020 compensation policy for the non-executive company officers. A resolution which was approved by 99.77%.
The 16th resolution is relative to approving the 2020 compensation policy for the Chief Executive Officer. A resolution which was approved by 84.14%. Finally, the 17th resolution, which is the last resolution with respect to ordinary business, authorizes the board of directors to carry out transactions involving the company shares for a maximum purchase unit price per share of EUR 15 with a maximum authorized amount of 5% of the share capital. This resolution was approved by 99.85%. Let us move on to extraordinary business resolutions. Let us start with the delegation of authority to be granted to the board of directors outside of the context of a public tender offer.
This is to approve the delegation of authority granted to the board of directors for the purpose of issuing ordinary company shares and securities, granting access to other company capital securities to be issued, or granting the right to the allocation with a maximum authorized amount of EUR 214 million. A resolution which was approved by 99.71%.
The 19th resolution relative to the delegation of authority to be granted to issue shares and security, granting access to other company capital securities without shareholders preferential subscription rights, but with a mandatory priority subscription period for EUR 214 million maximum authorized. Approved by 82.02%. The 20th resolution is relative to the delegation of authority to issue shares or securities by way of public tender offer, without shareholders' preferential subscription rights, within the limit of maximum authorized amount of EUR 86 million to be used outside of the context of a public tender offer.
Resolution which was approved by 81.53%. The 21st resolution is relative to the delegation of authority to issue shares and all securities without preferential subscription rights by way of a private placing within the limit of a maximum authorized amount of EUR 86 million. This resolution was approved by 81.43%. The 22nd resolution is relative to the delegation of authority to be granted to the board of directors to increase the number of securities to be issued in the event of a capital increase, with or without shareholders' preferential subscription rights, within a limit not to exceed 15% of the amount of the initial issue. A resolution which was approved by 82.11%.
The 23rd resolution is relative to delegation of power to increase the share capital within the limit of 10% of the share capital, in order to compensate contributions in kind granted to the company and comprised of capital securities or securities granting access to the share capital. This resolution was adopted by 99.2%. The 24th resolution was about a delegation of authority for the purpose of increasing the share capital via capitalization of reserve profits, premiums, or other amounts eligible for capitalization within the limit not to exceed a nominal amount of EUR 214 million. A resolution which was approved by 99.54%. The resolution 25th to 31st are financial resolutions of the same nature, but for ceiling levels which are about half of those I mentioned.
The 25th resolution is with respect to delegation of authority granted to the board for the purpose of issuing shares and/or securities, while maintaining shareholders' preferential subscription rights within the limit not to exceed a nominal amount of EUR 107 million. A resolution which was approved by 86.01%. The 26th resolution with respect to a delegation of authority granted to the board for the purpose of issuing shares and/or securities by way of a public offering without shareholders' preferential subscription rights, but with a mandatory subscription period and within a limit not to exceed a nominal amount of EUR 107 million.
A resolution which was approved by 70.39%. The 27th resolution is with respect to the delegation of authority granted to the board for the purpose of issuing securities by way of a public offering without shareholders' preferential subscription rights and with an optional priority subscription period within a limit not to exceed a nominal amount of EUR 43 million. A resolution which was approved by 69.79%. The 28th resolution is with respect to the delegation of authority granted to the board for the purpose of issuing shares and/or securities without shareholders' preferential subscription right by way of the private placings within the limit not to exceed nominal amount EUR 43 million, approved by 69.82%.
Let us move on to the 29th resolution relative to the delegation of authority granted to the Board for the purpose of increasing the number of securities to be issued in the event of a capital increase, with or without shareholders' preferential subscription rights within the limit not to exceed 15% of the amount of the initial issue. This resolution was approved by 70.49%. Moving on to the 30th resolution, relative to a delegation of power granted to the Board for the purpose of increasing the share capital by an amount not to exceed a nominal amount of EUR 21 million in order to compensate contribution in kind granted to the company to be used within the context of a public tender offer. A resolution approved by 86.05%.
The 31st resolution is relative to a delegation of authority granted to the Board for the purpose of increasing the share capital via capitalization of reserve profits, premiums or other amounts eligible for capitalization within a limit not to exceed a nominal amount of EUR 107 million. This resolution was approved by 86.52%. The 32nd resolution relates to the delegation of authority granted to the Board for the purpose of determining the issue price of shares and/or securities within an annual limit not to exceed 10% of the share capital in the event of the capital increase referred to in resolutions 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28. This resolution was approved by 70.5%.
33rd resolution relative to the delegation of authority to be granted to the board for the purpose of carrying out capital increases reserved to members of a company or group savings schemes without shareholders' preferential subscription rights within the limit not to exceed 2% of the share capital. Valid for a 26-month period resolution, which was approved by 99.85%. Finally, the 34th and last resolution is relative to the powers to accomplish formalities. A resolution was approved by 99.94%. Voting of resolutions is closed, and I turn over to Anne-Marie Couderc, our chairperson.
Thank you very much, Anne-Sophie. Our general meeting of shareholders behind closed doors is coming to an end. I would like to thank all the speakers. You appreciated, I'm sure, their presentations. I thank all the shareholders who are present in front of their screens, and I thank all the teams that helped us have this general meeting. I would like to express the great pride I feel of being at the helm of this large European group, together with all the management team, our 83,000 employees and all our partners. I have great confidence in our collective ability to meet our new challenges and overcome the crisis. I thank you so much for your attendance and see you soon.