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.
While it is no secret that Willem-Alexander is a qualified pilot who sometimes flew KLM passenger flights, it was not previously clear how frequently it happened. Willem-Alexander said he is rarely recognised by passengers, especially since security was tightened on board planes in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. “Before September 11, the cockpit door was open. People regularly came to have a look and thought it was nice or surprising that I was sitting there,” he said, adding that very few people recognise him as he walks through Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in KLM uniform and cap.
