Happy 100, Big Blue

Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschaapij — Dutch for Royal Aviation Company — is the world’s oldest airline operating under its original name. Known to most simply as KLM, the Netherlands’ flag carrier will forever hold a special place in my heart.

It all started with the 747-400…

I was born June 16, 1987 in the great city of Atlanta, Georgia. Roughly two years later, on May 18, 1989, KLM received its first 747-400. They called it “City of Atlanta” — naturally.

Fast forward to November 2017.

I’m a die hard AV geek. Inked on my left forearm is the outline of a Boeing 747-400. While my day job is doing communications for the State of Minnesota, I spend nearly all my free time at MSP taking photos of airplanes, or in front of my computer writing articles for Airways Magazine or blogging on The Great Planes.

My dad and I are about to fly back home to the U.S. from Amsterdam after a weeklong cruise on the Rhine.

The plane? A 747-400 Combi.

The airline? KLM.

The destination? Chicago.

This is a particularly exciting flight, not just because it’ll be my first time flying aboard the beautiful Queen of the Skies, but because in just a few weeks I’ll move from Minnesota — the state I’ve called home for nearly three decades — to Chicago, where I’ll start a new job working in executive communications for Boeing at the aerospace giant’s world headquarters.

Fast forward even further to today, October 7, 2019. I still work for Boeing, but earlier this year I relocated to St. Louis where I now work in Historical Services as both a historian and a digital communications specialist. To say I’m in my dream job would be an understatement. I’m putting my skills and passion to good use on a daily basis — and no two days are the same. It’s incredible.

Most recently I got to do some research on — and writing about — you guessed it… KLM. And let me tell you… it’s been one heck of a fun project to work on. Learning more about the airline’s rich history and discovering so many unique, fun facts — for instance, did you know KLM is the only airline to have operated every airplane in the Douglas DC series? — has been awesome. As I think back on my own “coming of age” story in the world of aviation, KLM has been there every step of the way.

When I was still living in Minneapolis, Air France and KLM were the “biggies” that all of us AV geeks would get excited about. Even after moving to Chicago, I’d go nuts for those big blue 747s out at O’Hare. When my dad and I took that river cruise in 2017, we flew into Amsterdam and were fortunate to spend an entire day touring Schiphol inside and out. And, of course, there’s the 747-400… the whole “City of Atlanta” thing, my tattoo, my first (and still only) flight on the classic jumbo jet… this love of mine for the Flying Dutchman just keeps growing stronger.

So, here’s to you, KLM, on your 100th birthday. Your legacy is incredible and I’m so humbled to be able to help celebrate this amazing milestone with you, both personally and professionally.