Emergency Exit Seat - language criteria?
 

Flying between HAM and AMS this afternoon I was somewhat shocked when an elderly Dutch couple got booted out of the emergency exit row by the all-British cabin crew, on the grounds that they didn't speak much English.

I thought KLM's rule was "English or Dutch" (but can't find anything online to confirm this)

Surely it can't be right to have Dutch people evicted from the emergency exit row on a Dutch airline?

And surely there ought to be at least one Dutch-speaking FA on all KLM flights?

Most of the British cabin crew I've encountered did speak some Dutch - but these two didn't seem to speak any Dutch at all.

The flight wasn't entirely full, so those two passengers were probably sitting in their emergency exit seats because they paid for them, not as an op-upgrade.

Depending on how "elderly" they were, and how able-bodied, that may have also been part of the criteria when making the assessment. If it was purely on language grounds then I agree with you that this is incorrect.

As for paying for the seats, there is only a very cursory check during booking and (online) check-in that the passenger meets the requirements (age, able to assist, no handicap etc). The true test is made by the crew, and if the seat is denied then the payment is refunded.

They were probably classed as not fit for purpose by the crew, who clearly opted for the language issue to swiftly close the matter.

G

They were elderly, but seemed perfectly able-bodied - and the ONLY thing that was mentioned when they got moved was language.

"You didn't understand what I just said to you, did you? Then you can't sit here". And that was it, no debate, just "you can't sit here" (The FA wasn't exactly rude, but she was quite brusque)

They clearly had some knowledge of English, because I heard them order beer and wine, and the lady answered "red" when she was asked if she wanted red or white wine.

When selecting an exit row seat, one of the requires as stated on-screen is:

So it's English OR Dutch, not English AND Dutch... and shouldn't it be a requirement, on a Dutch airline, that cabin crew can give instructions in Dutch???

And as I said before, these two people looked fit and well. I could have imagined them on bicycles, or on a tennis court, or on a hiking holiday (like so many of my parents' friends who were fit and well into their 80s)

A lot of Cityhopper crew came via KLM UK and don't speak Dutch.

I'm well aware that a lot of them came via KLM UK. But most of them do speak at least some Dutch.

It's at least ten years since KLM UK got merged into Cityhopper, so there is really no excuse for not speaking Dutch, after all this time... the more so as KLM was assisting with language courses during the transition period (from what I remember being told by a KLM UK pilot who was part of my social circle at the time)

As I understand it, you need to be able to understand the directions given to you by the crew, in whatever language they speak. And so far as I know the only requirement is for crew to speak English, not Dutch, even though KLM is a Dutch airline.

If the crews don't speak Dutch then I can kind of understand.

My reading is: You must be able to understand what they say, regardless of whether they speak English or Dutch.

I didn't know KLM had non-Dutch speaking crew members, and I think it's a disgrace for a full-service Dutch airline.

But as for booting the elderly people off their seat, the most important thing is safety and following regulations, so I don't see another option in this particular case.

This exactly. Depending on crew or situations, the crew can make this assessment. I'm honestly rather happy the crew actually enforces this kind of stuff, as in the case of an emergency I'd much rather have people make a thread here about them being too rude about enforcing emergency readiness and not needing it vs. the opposite situation where they get in the way of timely evacuation of the aircraft.

I agree that in this particular case there was probably no other option. But the situation should never have been allowed to arise. There should have been at least one Dutch-speaking FA on board.

Pretty much, yes. Dutch people can feel whatever they'd like about that, but that doesn't change the fact that the people sitting there couldn't communicate with the crew.