Dutch king held part-time job as airline pilot

[Viridianne]

Willem-Alexander co-piloted commercial KLM flights twice a month, saying it had been a ‘relaxing’ hobby

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...mits-to-working-part-time-as-an-airline-pilot

The Dutch king has revealed that for more than two decades he has, alongside his royal duties, held down a part-time second job.

In a newspaper interview published on Wednesday, King Willem-Alexander said that he recently ended his role as a regular “guest pilot” after 21 years on KLM’s fleet of Fokker 70 planes and before that on Dutch carrier Martinair.

As a guest flier, the king worked about twice a month, always as co-pilot. He will now retrain to fly Boeing 737s as the Fokkers are being phased out of service. The 50-year-old father of three and monarch to 17 million Dutch citizens calls flying a “hobby” that lets him leave his royal duties on the ground and fully focus on something else.

From the Telegraph:

“I think flying is just amazing,” the king told the Dutch paper, on his boyhood dream. “You can’t take your day-to-day problems with you into the air. You can completely switch off and focus on something else. That, for me, is the most relaxing thing about flying.”

His thoughts on flying resonate with me. It's one of the reasons why I love flying - because for the next hour or 36 hours, you can completely forget about your life and just enjoy the ride. Don't have to worry about chores, what to cook, what to have for lunch, and other first world problems ... Switch off!

It's never too late to start a new hobby A friend wanted to be a pilot but he didn't have perfect vision. Instead he took up flying one of those small 1-2 people planes for fun.

Has anyone flown on KLM recently or will be flying on KLM? Now you can wonder if the king was/is your pilot! It would be interesting if we could get him aboard the 'Ask the pilot' thread :mrgreen:

 

[samh004]

You beat me to it!

Wouldn't make me fly them, but a pretty cool selling point nonetheless.

Would make for an awesome signature in my flight logbook

 

[LadyC]

Have a few KLM flights in July so will listen in to find out who the pilots are.

 

[Flying Fox]

So does that make his every flight Royal Dutch Air Force One??

 

[RooFlyer]

This is your pilot speaking. DYKWIA?

Turns out the Dutch king is or was a part time pilot for KLM. Story in the Oz.

May be pay-walled.

Some Dutch passengers on KLM flights might have recognised the co-pilot's voice when he introduced himself on the airline's Cityhopper services.


It was not just their co-pilot telling them weather conditions and estimated time of arrival. It was their king.

King Willem-Alexander told national newspaper De Telegraaf in an interview published on Wednesday that he has ended his role as a regular "guest pilot" after 21 years on KLM's fleet of Fokker 70 planes and before that on Dutch carrier Martinair.

He will now retrain to fly Boeing 737s as the Fokkers are being phased out of service.

While it is no secret that Willem-Alexander is a qualified pilot who sometimes flew KLM passenger flights, it was not clear how frequently it happened. De Telegraaf said he does it twice a month.
As a guest flier, the king is always co-pilot.

 

[knasty]

How would he retain his currency with only 2 flights per month?

 

[Viridianne]

You beat me to it!

Wouldn't make me fly them, but a pretty cool selling point nonetheless.

Would make for an awesome signature in my flight logbook

You wouldn't fly KLM because it's not Oneworld?

Where do you get these flight logbooks from? Sounds like a fun way to have a physical record of all your flights!

Have a few KLM flights in July so will listen in to find out who the pilots are.

Don't forget to memorise what he looks like in case he's welcoming passengers

 

[clazman]

Would assume all flights are domestic, as surely he couldn't go incognito if arriving at a international port?

 

[donovan301]

Would assume all flights are domestic, as surely he couldn't go incognito if arriving at a international port?

I , um wonder....Who is it you reckon might recognise him at an international port?

Jus sayin?

But regardless, yes apears to be dom locales,...Was flying a Fokker 70 for both government and KLM...KLM was a city hopper service, mostly business clientle.
He's stepping up to 737's as they are replacing Fokkers in the near future.

He flew by the name Captain Maarten Putman

 

[Deleted member]

As Mel Brooke's would say, "it's good to be king"!

 

[docjames]

How would he retain his currency with only 2 flights per month?

This is also what i'm wondering.

 

[RooFlyer]

I , um wonder....Who is it you reckon might recognise him at an international port?

Jus sayin?

<snip>

If it was out of Schengen, then probably every immigration officer who saw his Diplomatic Passport (or whatever Heads of State carry), probably tipped off by the government officials on hand to make sure his on ground formalities went OK.

 

[Boris spatsky]

Ahhh you got me... i am really a King... secret's out now

 

[N860CR]

I recall the daily mail (or one of the U.K. Rags) running an article years ago confirming that john Travolta was a part time pilot for Qantas.

 

[dajop]

How would he retain his currency with only 2 flights per month?

Didn't it say he "worked" 2 times a month? Would that suggest at least 4 flights a month (ie. at least a return flight each time he works)? And with short hauls possibly even more?

 

[samh004]

I just thought of something that is perhaps important to the story.

Before 30 April 2013 he was but a Prince, not a King. That's the majority of his KLM flying career. Still a pretty cool co-pilot to have flying you though.

You wouldn't fly KLM because it's not Oneworld?

Well, there is that, plus I'm not too enamoured with the KLM/scareFrance combo!

Where do you get these flight logbooks from? Sounds like a fun way to have a physical record of all your flights!

They are from a company called Simply for Flying. I was actually alerted to them by the member here, bass_ke, and have used them for every flight since 2014. I am about to complete my third book and move onto my fourth, which will be one of the new updated ones that has just been released.

A recent flight to LRE.

The Charity Flight to LRE (I'd flown BNE-SYD-LRE-SYD-BNE).

 

[Simo]

Second income is always helpful