Ditto

But even if there is one, it doesn't change anything, there is no guarantee that in case of emergency this FA would be able to be anywhere near the emergency exit and communicate with PAX, what if any of the other (non-Dutch speaking) FAs will be the ones to handle the situation?

I'm pretty sure there is always one, I can't recall a KLM flight where there were only English announcements, even though often the safety instructions happen in English only.

irishguy28

I'm sure most/all will be able to read the script in Dutch at the start/end of the flight - but in an emergency, there is no script.

I think it's easier to re-seat passengers rather than to roster a fully bilingual crew on every flight. Every airline states that seating assignments can be changed at any time for operational or safety reasons, and I don't see that this particular reason is any more shocking/scandalous/remarkable than any other.

WorldLux

And what about the passengers!? On my KL Cityhopper flights the dutch passengers were (subjectively) a minority. With English being the de facto common language of Europe, it's much more safer to have an English speaker in the exit row.

Why? There are many airlines that employ foreign F/As. Is it a disgrace if LH, OS, etc. employ Japanese F/As, that don't speak a word of German to cater for the many Asian guests on board their flights between Japan and Europe?

(bolding and underlining mine).

There's your problem. The crew does not speak Dutch. If sshhhh hits the fan, there will inevitably be a language barrier and hence a security issue. + the passengers were elderly. Safety is always #1 priority.

The nationality of the passengers in the exit row and the country of incorporation of an airline are hardly relevant, when it comes to asserting the ability of a passenger to operate the emergency exit.

You make it sound like being evicted from the exit row is the biggest crime against humanity ever committed.

If KL reseats them, they are obviously entitled to a refund of the money they paid for an exit seat. A seat reservation is not absolute and airlines can (and do) change seat reservation. Back in the days, KL used the F50, I was frequently reseated to the last row in order to allow proper trimming of the plane.

HalconBCN

It is rare that a Dutch person wouldn't understand a simple instruction in English such as "open the f$%/&ing door!", but of course emergency situations could be more complex than that, and this is not a time where you want to see somebody pulling out a dictionary.
It seems in this case the age of the passengers might have been the decisive factor, however.

Aviatrix

You weren't there. I was - and I was probably less than a metre away. From the demeanour and body language of the FA I am in no doubt, whatsoever, that this was about language, not about age. Perhaps I should have omitted the word "elderly" from my original post.

HalconBCN

I understand that is how you perceived it, and you could be right (or maybe wrong) about the motivation.
Imagine there was a real emergency and the FA was yelling instructions in English at the elderly couple, with you as translator in chief. Those valuable seconds could literally mean life or death for the people on that plane. So it's important for the FA to put feelings aside and do what's best for the whole plane. Of course the way it was communicated to the couple seems harsh and unneccesary.

Aviatrix

I'm not Dutch.

Don't know if she had any feelings to put aside. The only "feelings" I could sense were feelings of annoyance and irritation.

And I still think that it's wrong to have an entire monolingual English-speaking cabin crew on a KLM flight. If these were ex-KLM UK staff then there is no excuse for not having learnt Dutch, some 13 years after the merger.

Bakpapier

Yes it's a disgrace if those carriers would have no German speakers on their flights, and I would also find it strange if even only one of the FAs did not speak german and I were a German customer.

A very important reason for me as a Dutch person to fly KLM even if the fare is sometimes a bit higher, is that the crew are very nice people who speak in my own language. I of course have no problem with English, but it will never be my native language.

duvin

Why not? What does nationality have to do with this?

caliform

As a fellow Dutch person you probably also realize just how small our country is and how that means you can't always guarantee a full Dutch crew.

I think this is a bit of a storm in a teacup.

tobitronics

Think of it like this:

Would you be happy knowing that you had to evacuate through the door, operated by the two elderly people, and in the event of them not understanding FA instructions thus possibly delaying the evacuation procedure, risking your life?

If your answer is no, thank the FA.
If your answer is yes, keep your feelings for the elderly couple, sue KLM for not being Dutch (as a Dutchie I can understand that Dutch people have a problem with this) and pray you are not the one suffering in case it all goes wrong (and it will go wrong - Murphy's law). The couple probably have found better seats than they had in the first place.

Just my 2c

AJCNL

Just to add to this, I find it hard to believe that the couple were moved for being Dutch, but rather for their lack of English language skills. Of course in an emergency the instruction being yelled at the people next to an exit could be 'do not open that hatch' for example if fire was suspected on that side of the aircraft, so it really is important that the crew and those passengers can communicate with, and understand each other.

The question of the crew not being Dutch speaking I find has little relevance in the EU in 2016 with a flight on which Dutch nationals will most likely have been very much in a minority.

If the crew were ex KLM UK then yes it is bad that they have not mastered Dutch, but the British are not known for their ability or willingness to learn another language (I say that as one who did manage to become fluent in Dutch).

duvin

I'm a Dutch national and very uncomfortable with the Dutch language. I believe I'm not the only one, so could we please stop talking about nationality?

ok986

This week's AMS-OSL

"Hi. You've sat in emergency exit before?" [elderly passengers quietly nod] "Good, so you know what to do if there's a problem." [FA walks away]

KLflyerRalph

Yesterday on a KLM Cityhopper flight with two Dutch FA's, the one giving the exit row talk specifically asked the (Dutch) passengers if they could understand English and gave the instructions subsequently in English only.