Eighteen months ago, when he moved in as president of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, diminutive (5 ft. 3 in.) Ernst Hans van der Beugel, 44, looked like a bright hope. A brilliant ex-civil servant who had held the top career post in the Dutch Foreign Office, he appeared to have both the drive and diplomacy to steer the world's fourth-largest international airline deftly through the financial perils of the jet age. Last week, with an abruptness that stunned the aviation industry, Van der Beugel (pronounced van dare Bur-gel) resigned his job and checked into a hospital in The...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
