When
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated in 2013, her son
Willem-Alexander became king. Few people knew until this week that he
was a pilot, and has continued flying Fokker 70 planes for KLM after he
ascended the throne. Willem-Alexander has been a co-pilot on KLM flights
twice a month for 21 years, yet passengers had no idea who was in the
cockpit.
Willem-Alexander once said that if he had
not been born in a palace, his dream would have been to fly a big
passenger plane such as a Boeing 747, so it is no surprise that he
intends to retrain for the updated plane.
He told De Telegraaf
that he never used his name when addressing passengers and was rarely recognized in uniform and wearing his KLM cap. However, he admitted that
some passengers had recognized his voice.
"The advantage is that
I can always say that I warmly welcome passengers on behalf of the
captain and crew," he said. "Then I don't have to give my name."
He maintains his flying schedule in order to keep his pilot's license. Read more about
the king's second job at BBC News.
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