The Flying Dutchman

Yesterday morning I went to Schiphol-Oost to pick-up my KLM uniform and I.D. card. I thought after I left KLM in June I would never have to put on one again, but I guess I was wrong. Am I returning to KLM? Noooooooooooo! Thank goodness for that!

KLM building @ SPL-Oost

You see, my next assignment is KLM. It's a big project and my team is only concentrating on a small part, namely the divisions Ground Services and In-flight Services. KLM and AF are integrating slowly, but we have to establish the strength and weaknesses of both companies, in order for it to be run effectively and most importantly by saving on overhead cost. AFC (France) is doing the same with Air France and AFSL, AFC (USA) will concentrate on Servair (catering) and Air France Industries (engineering & maintenance), while AFC (Asia) will handle out-stations for both KLM and Air France.

This project will take several months and will be done in addition to other ongoing assignments we already have. In order for us to make an accurate assesment report, we have to "blend-in" with KLM, so at one point we all (teams 1,2,3 and 4) have to work alongside the KLM staff, personell and crew. We ask them questions and observe them in their day-to-day activities. The employees are the ones who are on the line everyday, so we need a lot of input from them. For us not to stand out as much, KLM wanted us to wear their attire, unfortunately. It ain't my favorite thing to wear.

I got trousers, shirts, vests, coats (one for ground staff and one for cabin staff), ties, belt, name-tags, wings and SkyTeam pin

At KLM the men can choose from a slelection of 6 different ties; I chose these two

Name-tags, wings and SkyTeam pin. Funny enough I've been given the status as tweebander (stripes on sleeve) in the air, but no stripes on the ground. In the air I need it for access to Europe Select/World Business Class. So R.... I have seniority over you! R-E-S-P-E-C-T! LOL!

You get a lot of name-tags. One for the shirt, one for the vest, one for the jacket, one for the apron you wear on board etc.

KLM I.D. cards. Important for a lot of stuff. You can put money on it to buy stuff in the restaurant or crew center at SPL. By swiping it in the magnetic reader, you can log-in into the scheduling system, company email and briefing system and it also unlocks certain doors within KLM's offices. I also picked up Grietje and Freddy ID's. When they went to pick-up their uniform earlier, they weren't ready as yet.

My safety vest when going on the platform or ramp

So I'm going to work on the ground, but I also have to fly as a cabin attendant (CA) on a domestic, short-haul, mid-range and long-haul flight. Not only me, but Grietje, Brenda and Freddy as well and other members from the other 3 teams. Note: I will not be an official CA, nor will I actually do work on the airplane... I will be just flying along. I mention this, so no one thinks that the safety on KLM aircraft or security on the ground is in jeapordy at any time. I am NOT trained to be a CA.

As this experience involves direct insider contact with the company and sensitive information, I asked KLM for permission to write and show pictures of my experiences on my weblog. Unfortunately this was denied by the KLM public relations department. So to circumvent this, I decided to create a seperate link called "The World of KLM" where the pictures will be displayed. This is only for authorized people and they will receive the password via e-mail personally by me when I post the first picture. The password is confidential and should not be passed on. Please, these pictures will be for personal use only and not to be forwarded to anyone else. I already had a bad experience with this in the past. KLM has set rules about the code of conduct and although I do not work directly for them, I must adhere to them.

Right now I am at R's house. He left for Paramaribo this morning again! If R. keeps requesting PBM, he won't have any points left in the scheduling system and can no longer requst anything. Before you know it. R. will be scheduled for Europe flights... the flights R. hates the most! LOL!