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Home » KLM » KLM Previews The Dreary New Normal Of Flying…
KLM

KLM Previews The Dreary New Normal Of Flying…

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 25, 2020May 25, 2020 21 Comments

KLM Dreary Travel

All things considered, we’ll do just fine. Still, a KLM video showcasing safety throughout the travel experience projects the dreary new norm of travel.

KLM Highlights Safety At Airport + Onboard

As travel is set to ramp up further in June, KLM wants to assure customers it has taken steps to maximize safety onboard, creating an environment that should alleviate stress and fear of virus spread.

The video below highlights what will likely be the new norm for months if not years to come:

Social distancing at check-in, frequent cleaning, high-powered air filters, and masks. The usual stuff…

Let me first note how I am thankful that we will soon (hopefully) be able to fly again. That itself will be a great first step. Wearing a mask or no longer being able to eat in a lounge buffet is a small price to pay. But that’s not what I mean here. Mundane travel is inherently better than no travel at all.

Maybe it’s just me, but the video made me sad. And I cannot even pinpoint why. It shows human ingenuity and innovation. That’s a good thing, right?

It shows solidarity, because we must all work together to protect one another.

A Dreary Future Of Travel On KLM And Others?

Maybe I’m just thinking about my last KLM flight, from Bali to Singapore. The crew was so wonderful; I had such a pleasant exchange with the flight attendant serving drinks and dinner and later with the purser.

Though quite senior, the crew was beautiful. I appreciated the lines of maturity, evidencing decades of experience…and laughter. Sharing a laugh with others is one of the great gifts of humanity.

And I guess that gets to the heart of my angst. Will flight crews be scared of passengers and vice-versa? Will conversations with crewmembers become like onboard smoking, a relic of the past? Will FAs simply rush through a pre-packaged beverage and snack service and then hide, hoping there is no onboard emergency so they don’t have to risk their health?

Whatever their shape, size, or color, every human being has innate dignity. My fear is in order to protect life, we will sacrifice that dignity by neglecting the sort of fellowship that makes humans human.

Perhaps I am being way too overdramatic…

CONCLUSION

I know I’m getting ahead of myself. We have to be able to fly before we can worry about the conditions of that flying…but that otherwise dull video just depressed me.

Perhaps I underestimate the ingenuity of humanity not only to protect itself from harm, but to find new ways to interact with one another. Perhaps everything will return to normal after a number of months or years.

I sure hope so. The greatest flights are not those with the greatest seat or greatest champagne, but the greatest service. To sacrifice service would be to sacrifice a key component of what makes flying such a pleasure.

image: KLM

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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21 Comments

  1. RetiredATLATC Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 9:56 am

    Was really looking forward to a once-in-a-lifetime experience for my in-laws on TK from ATL-IST-BER. I’m afraid what we considered the “glamour age” of J service is gone for the foreseeable future on all airlines, not just KLM.

  2. ghostrider5408 Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 10:17 am

    The “golden age” is gone for the foreseeable future sadly. Like the cruise lines operable word is “sterile” But people will return to travel I just booked Italy and London for next year thinking that will be sufficient time and with the cancelation polices no brainer. What will be interesting to see are cruise lines and their bookings.

  3. Will Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 10:19 am

    Let alone the changes on the airline, it will be daunting to figure out what paperwork you need and what has to be done to enter or pass through each according country or even state when it comes to the US.

    I was really hoping to go to Africa and now that seems years off. Even NYC which is somewhere my SO has been really wanting to go doesn’t seem safe, let alone ENJOYABLE, for at least 2 years.

    As you mention service makes all the difference, sure a nice seat makes a huge difference, but it’s hard to imagine paying 3-5¥ for a J ticket knowing your going to get treated like an economy passenger all while getting reduced food and lounge access.

    I wonder if we’ll never be able to shower in a lounge again. By far that was one of the best feelings ever after a long haul flight.

  4. Stuart Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 10:24 am

    I have been feeling the same way. I think most are. These videos, and the juxtaposition of smiling crews and happy passengers amidst a dystopian backdrop, are oddly chilling. It’s like something you see in a dark science fiction series. One we are in and living right now.

    • Matthew Reply
      May 25, 2020 at 1:40 pm

      Welcome to our world…

  5. Leslie Jackson Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 11:27 am

    For god sake, all of this is complete and utter nonsense. We scared ourselves to hysterical hypochondriacs

    • Matthew Reply
      May 25, 2020 at 12:16 pm

      That may be true, but we are where we are…this is the new normal and likely won’t be changing anytime soon.

      • Pa100 Reply
        May 28, 2020 at 1:51 pm

        The first step is to stop with the Orwellian new normal crap. That just plays into the narrative. The more that is restated, it will become perpetually normal as with what happened 19 years ago.

        • Pa100 Reply
          May 28, 2020 at 1:52 pm

          This is no way to travel. Count me out.

    • Aaron Reply
      May 25, 2020 at 1:48 pm

      No, incompetence form many governments worldwide* plus selfish arrogance from certain people like Leslie led us to where we are now.

      *Some countries got it right, others didn’t.

  6. Kenneth Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 11:59 am

    Depressing as hell. I’d rather stay at home, here in Nova Scotia.

    As for our other home, in the South of France, we will sell it if this become the new normal. And that will be easy to do, because people who live in large French cities are actively searching online for country homes with gardens, where they and their family can hunker-down if/when necessary – rather than be forced to stare at the walls of an apartment day after day.

    • Matthew Reply
      May 25, 2020 at 12:15 pm

      I’m feeling sad now, Kenneth, but I’d hold onto that home. I have a feeling we will bounce back. There’s nothing like the scent of lavender in the South of France.

  7. derek Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 12:28 pm

    More sad that being responsible means no air travel for now. If the trip was urgent or very important, I would buy 9 seats to guarantee improved social distancing but it is not clear if that is possible, particularly if more people fly.

  8. Jim Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    There are ways to be “social” while being “distant.” Hopefully FA’s will realize you can still be welcoming, personable, helpful and yes, even fun, under trying circumstances….while still being safe and careful. Granted, the added stress of Covad 19 will be challenging for some…but all the doom and gloom about future air travel is probably overstated.

  9. MeanMeosh Reply
    May 25, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    The miserable, socially distant dystopia is a product of what we asked for. Respectfully, you just gave us a diatribe a couple days ago where you stated your intention to continue social isolation, including isolating your parents from yourself and their grandchildren, in the name of “safety” until “Testing! Testing! Testing!” and contact tracing rise to a level you find acceptable. (Hint: not gonna happen). That’s fine and if those are your choices, I respect them, and the comments to posts like that indicate the majority of potential air travelers agree with you. But don’t be surprised when airlines like KLM respond with – the dystopia that YOU demand to be “safe”.

    As for how long it lasts, one of three things will happen to bring us back to normal:

    1) There is a vaccine and/or an effective treatment is found.
    2) CV mutates to the point it burns itself out, ala the original SARS.
    3) Enough people say “eff it”, accept the risks, and decide to return to normal on their own.

    I’m not particularly hopeful on 1 or 2, so really your answer is Door Number 3: the service returns to February levels when the public demands it. I’m sure a certain segment of cretins who infect your comments page will be here to dismiss anyone who chooses that as science-denying Trumptards, but whether they approve or not, enough people WILL reach their breaking point eventually and force the issue. Whether that’s 3 months, 6 months, a year, 3 years, I don’t really know. My gut says early-mid 2021.

    • Matthew Reply
      May 25, 2020 at 1:40 pm

      Either I was not clear or you missed the nuance in my post you reference. I presented the two options (close or open the economy) and said I’d rather get back to normal than continue what we are doing now. But I still think it is a false choice. I do think our federal government and many state governments failed us, because both the economic cost and cost of lives was unnecessary if this was handled in a competent way from the start. Testing should be a reality. It should be easy and just another component of the airport security process. I find it crazy for some to argue that we simply cannot do this. I have far too much faith in America. Perhaps that faith is misplaced.

      As for my daughter, we are not keeping her away from parents because of COVID-19. As it turned out, my parents already had COVID-19, which makes me so thankful I distanced from them for more than two months. Rather, I mentioned the near-death experience of a family friend, whose infant became gravely ill. We are simply trying to keep all germs from her and would likely have done that with COVID-19 or not.

      I do think we will reach #3, for better or for worse (and likely for worse), because that is already what we are seeing this long holiday weekend.

      • Stuart Reply
        May 25, 2020 at 2:02 pm

        Wow, Matthew. That’s an announcement you never made. Not that your parent’s health is for the public here to know about. But still, it’s interesting. I am glad they are ok. I am curious, were they symptom free? I ask as I’m awaiting my antibody test to come back tomorrow. I think for many of us that traveled, like me, up until around the 15th of March (mine was all driving after the 1st for added safety but I was in NYC and Miami when things started getting bad) your parents are an interesting case study (if asymptomatic) in how many of us might have antibodies, for whatever they offer at this point.

        • Matthew Reply
          May 25, 2020 at 2:32 pm

          My father was asymptomatic, my mother was ill for two weeks in late February and insisted that it was just flu. She never had any respiratory issues. I knew better at the time, but she only recently had the antibody test as part of her annual physical. Heidi, Augustine, and I will find out shortly if we have antibodies as well…that will lead to a public announcement.

    • Aaron Reply
      May 25, 2020 at 1:46 pm

      @MeanMeosh: “I’m sure a certain segment of cretins who infect your comments page will be here to dismiss anyone who chooses that as science-denying Trumptards”

      The fact that you had to go there belies whatever neutrality and respectability you were trying to initially convey, and says more about you than the rest of what you posted did.

  10. Justin Reply
    May 26, 2020 at 1:22 am

    I remember feeling morose about travel just after the liquid bomb plot in August 2006 when immediately liquids and gels were banned from hand luggage. I remember how shocked I felt seeing what the boarding procedure was like in Britain with no hand luggage allowed at all on flights; everything had to be checked in. Anything bought in the terminal had to be placed in a plastic bag and examined before boarding. This drastic process took a long time and went on for quite a while as well. Similar processes happened right after September 11. Similar measures also took place in the months after a man tried to set off a bomb on a Delta flight approaching Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. The point is some measures will be here to stay and we will get used to them and some over time will get relaxed with time. Airlines and hotels will find creative ways to make us feel comfortable again when travelling. Not to worry, it will just take time.

    • Pa100 Reply
      May 28, 2020 at 1:58 pm

      I never got used to the restrictions after the events 19 years ago.

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