Farewell to the Fokker

The long-standing association between Dutch flag carrier KLM and Fokkerproduced airliners ended in October. Tom Allett joined the last commercial flight

IN OCTOBER 2017, KLM reached the end of one of the longest airline/aircraft manufacturer partnerships in aviation history. In 1912, Dutch aircraft designer Anthony Fokker (1890–1939), started a company that, apart from a break between 1946 and 1966, went on to provide the Dutch flag carrier with airliners for 97 years. This remarkable run started with the five-seat Fokker II on September 15, 1920, and stretched through to the last of a long line, the 80-seat Fokker 70 regional jet.

KLM subsidiary KLM Cityhopper had operated its larger sibling, the 100-plus-seat Fokker 100 since the early 1990s and, when searching for an aircraft to serve thinner routes, it chose the 80-seat Fokker 70 ahead of the BAe146 and Boeing 737-500 airliners that it considered to be the type’s main competitors at the time. The airline launched its first Fokker 70 flights in 1993 and eventually had 26 of them in its fleet. With the first examples of its direct replacement, the more fuel-efficient 100-seat Embraer ERJ-190, entering service in the closing weeks of 2008, the Fokker 100’s days were numbered and all were withdrawn by the end of 2012. Soon afterwards, the Embraer ERJ- 175 proved to be the Fokker 70’s nemesis. Deliveries of the 88-seat Brazilian jet began in March 2016 and are still ongoing, but KLM could not allow its association with the most famous Dutch aircraft designer pass without due ceremony. October 28, the last day of KLM’s 2017 summer schedule, was chosen for its Fokkers’ last hurrah, with six destinations: Dusseldorf, Norwich, Hannover, Brussels, Luxembourg and London Heathrow being served on the final day. As London was the destination of KLM first international Fokker passenger service in 1920, Heathrow was the chosen departure point for the very last one. The airline’s programme aligned the six Fokker 70 arrivals at Schiphol within an 85-minute period and the Heathrow departure was allocated the flight number KL1070. Chosen to mark the 70’s retirement, 1070 number represented a one-off for Heathrow services, though it continues to be used elsewhere.

A beautiful 45 minutes

October 28 marked the end of the northern hemisphere’s summer. At Heathrow, the final sunset of the season was fittingly spectacular, adding to the special atmosphere building at Terminal 4’s Gate 17. KLM had recently painted one of its Fokker 70s, PH-KZU, in a special colour scheme that carried an image of Anthony Fokker, clad in his flying suit, on its tail and ‘Fokker – Thank you’ titles on the fuselage. Fittingly, ‘Zulu Uniform’ was selected to perform the type’s final service.

Anyone who has had the opportunity to experience such an end-of-era passenger flight will know they are a pleasure to take part in. Everyone on board is there because they personally want to be, not because they have to be and flight KL1070 was no different. Enthusiasts had travelled from far and wide to participate in this moment of aviation history. The majority, of course, were from Holland, keen to take part in this homage to the nation’s most famous aircraft manufacturer. Indeed, several were wearing commemorative clothing to mark the occasion. Others had travelled much further, including groups from Argentina and China, plus individuals from the USA and many European countries. The significance of KL1070 had also spread beyond those on board. As the passengers took their seats and the final bags were loaded, members of the ramp team lined up in front of the aircraft to have their photographs taken by the colleagues.

Captain Richard Galloway had the honour of commanding the special flight, which also marked his retirement. Prior to pushback, with everyone strapped into their seat, Captain Galloway left the flight deck and came into the cabin. He was greeted by a plethora of cameras and microphones stretching the length of the passenger cabin as he spoke on the PA. He joked that after flying the Fokker 70 for exactly 25 years and 25 days, [with Air UK, KLM UK and KLM Cityhopper]: “I know where just about all of the buttons are now.” He signed off by saying that although the flight from London to Amsterdam was only scheduled to last for 45 minutes, the crew “would make it a beautiful 45 minutes”, a message greeted by unanimous applause.

Soon we were taxiing away from Terminal 4 and lined up for departure on runway 27 Left. As we accelerated into the darkness, smartphones were pressed against the cabin windows to record the moment. When established in the cruise, the cabin service began with each passenger being issued with a small commemorative goody bag containing such items as a keyring and even Fokker 70-branded snacks. A thousand selfies must have been taken during the short flight, but all too soon we were starting our descent towards Schiphol. The national significance of this commemorative service meant a large press contingent was waiting and Captain Galloway announced that the flight time would be slightly extended as he was requested to land at a specific time – 20:30 local – to enable the TV cameras to capture it live. Truth be told, the touchdown was a firm one!

As we taxied to stand, escorted by an armada of ground vehicles and receiving the traditional waterarch salute, the senior cabin crew member paid a warm tribute to Captain Galloway on behalf of the crew. It was greeted with strong round of applause from the cabin before the skipper spoke via the PA again. He quipped that: “As I saved my worst ever landing for the last of my career, you will have noticed that we have arrived at Amsterdam!” and signed off by reciprocating the compliments received from his colleagues. After disembarkation, accompanied by a multitude of photo opportunities and interviews, ‘Zulu Uniform’ was taxied over to join its stablemates at KLM’s engineering facility. There, numerous employees associated with the type’s service joined senior management for a hangar party to celebrate the KLM-Fokker-era.

The next morning, an impressive memorial was unveiled at Schiphol East, the site where the original airport had opened 101 years earlier. Celebrating the men and women of the KLM-Fokker era, the memorial is the entire tail section of a scrapped KLM Fk70, ‘Zulu Whiskey’. Beneath the towering structure is a simple steel plaque bearing an inscription that translates into English as: “This tail monument is a tribute to all the hardworking employees of KLM, Fokker and KLM Cityhopper who operated together with these beautiful Dutch aircraft worldwide over the period 1920-2017, thus writing aviation history.”

The day after their retirement from KLM service, four Fokker 70s were flown from Schiphol to Norwich, UK, where KLM’s engineering facility is preparing them for a new lease of life with carriers in Africa, Asia and South America.
Kees van der Mark