Review of KLM flight Chicago → Amsterdam in Economy

Hello all! Continuing with my long journey trek home from back in December 2015, here are the flight details:

December 19th 2015
Delta Connection flight DL4695 Fargo to Minneapolis/St. Paul (1319 hours to 1427 hours), CRJ200 (N426SW)
Delta Air Lines flight DL1717 Minneapolis/St. Paul to Chicago O'Hare (1510 hours to 1637 hours), MD90 (N912DN)

December 20th 2015
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight KL612 Chicago O'Hare to Amsterdam-Schiphol (1625 hours to 0710 hours +1), B74M (this report!)

December 21st 2015
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight KL871 Amsterdam-Schiphol to New Delhi IGI (1245 hours to 0100 hours +1), B744

December 22nd 2015
Air India flight AI401 New Delhi IGI to Kolkata NSCBI (0700 hours to 0900 hours), B788

December 25th 2015
Mihin Lanka flight MJ332 Kolkata NSCBI to Colombo Bandaranaike (1040 hours to 1340 hours), A321

December 28th 2015
Mihin Lanka flight MJ331 Colombo Bandaranaike to Kolkata NSCBI (0635 hours to 0935 hours), A320

January 6th, 2016
Air India flight AI676 Kolkata NSCBI to Mumbai T2 (0945 hours to 1245 hours), A319

January 7th, 2016
Jet Airways flight 9W495 Mumbai T1B to Bengaluru Kempegowda (2140 hours to 2135 hours), B738

January 8th, 2016
Air France flight AF191 Bengaluru Kempegowda to Paris Charles De'Gaulle (0245 hours to 0845 hours), B77E
Delta Air Lines flight DL123 Paris Charles De'Gaulle to Chicago O'Hare (1230 hours to 1518 hours), B76W

January 9th, 2016
Delta Air Lines DL1717 Chicago O'Hare to Minneapolis/St. Paul (1715 hours to 1854 hours), B712
Delta Air Lines DL1956 Minneapolis/St. Paul to Fargo Hector International (2028 hours to 2135 hours), A320

KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij. The world's oldest airline, as of today, An icon in the skies because of their striking blue livery. And I was about to have two flights on board the Flying Dutchman, on two Boeing 747s. I only had two B747 flights prior to this, but those barely lasted an hour. However, onboard two iconic Boeing 747s operated by an iconic airline taking me home after my first ever college semester? Thanks to Air France for coming up with such an epic set of flights. Those were some exciting times for me!

The video trip report link:


The day started off with yet another super excited wake up as I was up and about at…0616 hours again. The Loop was in full flow as I heard the trains go by pretty frequently. A quick check at the KLM website - City of Bangkok had been changed to City of Melbourne, PH-BFE. She was delayed by a good 1.5 hours, and I received a prompt email for the same. BFE actually flew the previous KL611/612 sectors as well (AMS-ORD-AMS)


Headed up for the complementary breakfast which was reasonable. Packed up and walked towards Lake Michigan. It honestly looked Galle Face green (a popular location in the heart of Colombo, Sri Lanka) to me. Except that there were lesser people, and surely cleaner…the water was very calm too. I then remembered the times I played Midtown Madness…and how I used to go under the Loop line while also maxing the cars out on the Meigs Field runway. Meigs Field..how far would it be from my location? A quick look on the internet suggested that it is now called Northern Island…and it was only a mile away! Heck yeah, I made my to Northern Island…which included a walk in front of the aquarium…well, some things are better kept for next time! :D


Northern Island is now just a concert/party arena. What was an airport oh my God! The thought made me a bit sad.


I made my way back to the hostel to pick my suitcase and head back to the blue line. I did manage to get lost finding the blue line. When I did, buying the ticket was a bit tricky. I heard the train come in. It was now, or sixteen minutes later. Made it on the train just in the nick of time. Uneventful 45 minutes, until when I saw a United Boeing 747-400 land. That got me super excited, of course! The CTA train arrives in Terminal 2, so getting to the International Terminal 5 is just a matter of getting on a inter-terminal train. That was fun as we turned right next to an American Airlines B767, while I saw the super Boeing 737-700W of United make a super quick landing!


Check in was empty..or so I thought! It was the wrong end of the terminal :P I saw the Air India check in area, that was a moment of happiness! The terminal was full of people checking in. Air France-KLM and Delta share check in counters. 4 of them were dedicated to KLM, 4 others to Delta’s only international flight out of Chicago, to Paris. I rejigged my bags. A nice American man and Indian woman welcomed everyone by saying - hi there, welcome to KLM! and along those lines. The line was, unsurprisingly, long.


I joined the line and looked around in the terminal - and to be honest, it was pretty neat! Check in did take some time, but it did get quicker by the time it was my time to check in. I got a similar smily - ‘Hello, welcome to KLM!’ greeting. Very nice in my opinion! She asked me to place my cabin luggage on the scales (which I did, except for the camera bag!), she tagged them. The main massive suitcase was just 21.9kgs. I had another 1.1kgs in there :( Anyway, I was advised of the delay and she also mentioned that boarding would start at 1630 hours.


Security was next, and I had to go through it with a lot of pushing and being pushed..but that’s how it is now, I guess! Got straight down into business after duty free. Cool thing with Chicago O’Hare is that the planes are parked pretty up close! Quite a variety, let the pictures do the talking!


I noticed an AeroMexico B73W, and there she was! PH-BFE made her gracious appearance. I made my quick dash to Gate M8. She slowly taxied in with some nice engine sounds and a graceful look, such that everyone had their phone cameras out to picture the arrival of this graceful beast.


The combi’s cargo door slowly opened to remove the inbound cargo.


I continued with my spotting before settling into a quick spicy Asian meal.


All set for my first trip back home!


1630 came and went, but no boarding call. (Or maybe I didn’t listen to it?) I made my way back to Gate M8, and voila! There was a long line, and they were the status holders.


Soon boarding was called for all, I was one of the last ones to board anyway. Despite filling in the aircraft from the rear, a huge line formed in the aerobridge. The ground agents made a small conversation with everyone which is always a nice touch. So far so good with KLM, except that I was standing in the long line to get on the 747. And to think, technically this isn’t a full 747, because of the cargo section right in the end.


Newspapers from Amsterdam and Chicago:


A very warm welcome onboard, I was guided towards my seat 26A. Took my seat 26A, 26B and 26C already had a couple occupying their seats. I look out of the window - not a bad view! I did notice that the Airbus A330-300 had a higher winglet than my Boeing 747-400.


The A330's winglet is higher than the B747-400s!


Anyway, announcements were made and none of them could actually be heard because of the very loud air conditioning system. The captain came over to make his very detailed 3.5 minutes announcement, however, I could not understand a lot of it. He did, however, ensure that we would make it almost on time because of favorable tailwinds and a flying time of 6hr45min. He said we’d take off in a Westerly direction before heading East. Last thing I caught was a very detailed route, and that we'd fly over Detroit, Toronto, Montreal and then onto the Atlantic Ocean, before finally hitting the other side of the pond over Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Trying out the inflight entertainment:


Pushback was 1hr3min late a 1733 hours as the mighty Boeing 747 was pushed back by this tiny tug…the four GE CF6 engines roared into life.


The MEB3 and their Boeing 777s have taken the industry by storm with many convenient connections from the USA to Asia…and yet, there's this old lady (and the BA B744) that had many Indians onboard!


We began a slow and cautious taxi towards Runway 28R. Along the way, I noticed a lot of the landings…seven planes with their landing lights on, mighty impressive! I did have two moments I found to be scary while taxiing - once when a Untied Airlines A320 taxied right past and it got a bit close to the wing, while we taxied by a boundary that was again, a bit too close to the wing. A United A320 landed, which meant it was time for us to take off. Not loud at al! The graceful 747 GE engines were overshadowed by the loud sound of the aircons. The only way I knew were rolling was when we were being pulled back by the force. The Boeing 747 was amazing and smooth and take off! A few banks later, over Lake Michigan, it was over to the east and set course to Amsterdam.



Seatbelt signs went off, but the crew sprung into action even earlier. Headphones were handed out which were a bit different to what you’d usually expect.


Movie number 1: Minions!


Drinks service started at 1818 hours (CDT) I went for a red wine to start off proceedings, and settled to watching the Minions Movie.


Hot towels were then distributed at 1844 hours. A minor blip from the girl in 25B neat that she spilt some stuff on her seat, on the gentleman’s knees in 26B. The flight attendant helped clean up with towels and replacing blankets.


Special meals were distributed at 1901 hours followed by the regular ‘Tasty Blue’ meal service of KLM. I’ve never heard of an airline branding their meal service, and this was awesome! Choices were of a barbecue chicken or vegetarian pasta. I went for the former. And a Coke to go along with it.


It started off with a very basic salad mix that included Fettah cheese and a cherry tomato placed over freshly cut lettuce with olive oil dressing.
Main course contained a very continental fare. Mashed potatoes with some sweetcorn hidden here and there made it very enjoyable to eat. Some pretty ordinary boiled vegetables to go with it. The chicken was alright too, tasted good albeit a bit soft. The dessert was a chocolate brownie slice with some extra chips on it! An extra box was provided with cheese and crackers, while a hot bread was served as an extra, too. All in all, a reasonable meal.


At 1951 hours, hot beverages (tea and coffee) were served. I went for a cognac this time, and it did hit my pretty hard! At least, it kept me warm for the flight. I started watching Inside Out at this point…how about that, watching childish movies and drinking alcohol. College student life (On a plane, at least!). The trays were then cleared up.


When the gentleman in 26B decided to head out to washroom, this is when the flight took a turn for the better! His wife and I entered the galley and just started talking in general. That’s when one flight attendant walked in and said ‘You’re in my space.’ The nice seat mate said - ‘Oh I’m sorry, I thought we could help with the dishes?’ The three of us chucked and then talked about everything from North Dakota, to Alaska, Australia, etc. But since this is an aviation forum, I will talk about the aviation stuff only :)

The flight attendants worked for 15 and 28 years with KLM respectively, which is awesome! The very experienced flight attendant serves the international routes exclusively. They both also talked about their dislike of the Boeing 777-300ER, especially when rolling a cart down the aisle ever since the 3-4-3 happened. They both also preferred the 747-400 Combi over the regular one because there is an entire section less of passengers. Both expressed their sadness in the retirement of the MD11s, saying that it was an icon in their fleet, as is the 747. One of the flight attendants actually went to New Delhi before her flight to Chicago, which was a nice coincidence! She talked about how once they taxied to the runway in clear visibility before the fog set in…and an eight hour delay that followed. It was a good half an hour chat, PH-BFE claimed from 35000 to 36000 feet. The duty free sales happened while the lights were completely shut off. We had to take our seats because the crew starting to get busy. They appreciated our long chat with them! We thanked them too, and I headed for the washroom and a quick walk of the cabin itself.


I set about writing this FR with the information screen on as we flew closer and closer to Amsterdam. I kept looking out of the window and just about saw the two GE CF6 engines working their hearts out, I appreciated the engineering of this wonderful plane! 0450am AMS time, a box with crisps, granola bars and mint was taken around by the flight attendants and offered to anyone who was awake. This was followed by a juice service not too long later, where I took an apple juice. And an Amarula, not too long later……


Lights were turned on at 0602 hours in preparation for breakfast. This started with a hot towel service at 0608 hours. Distribution of special meals started at 0616am, that was followed by the regular service with beverages. Dilmah tea, all the way from Sri Lanka on a flight from the United States to The Netherlands! The tea however, was quite bland. But that’s alright, I guess.


Top of the morning to you too, KLM! We're overflying Ireland!


Safety card


Soon, the lovely crew members secured the cabin of the massive jet. Descent began as the Boeing 747 very gingerly closed in towards Amsterdam. Lights of the Amsterdam port were lit up. And soon, I saw a lit up Amsterdam as the city was slowly waking up in to a new day.



And soon, PH-BFE lined up with Zwanenburgbaan (runway 18C) and a smooth touchdown was executed at 0723 hours, just thirteen minutes delayed (after pushing back more than an hour late). More announcements were made over the passenger announcement system but I could hear nothing. It was quite a long taxi towards Concourse E, and I realized I was on the wrong side - there was nothing to be seen, other than a few more KLM Boeing 747s land after their overnight missions. And soon, there was a sea of blue as BFE passed by some lovely KLM A330s parked. We docked at gate E16, right next to an A330 of Delta Air Lines. Ugh, all this time looking at Delta Air Lines in the USA, and here I was….. :P


I waited for all passengers to disembark, because I had so much time to kill! I was also pushing my luck with an ulterior motive… The nice crew members I had spoken to for a good hour was greeting all passengers as they disembarked. And when it was my turn to disembarked, I stopped and requested the nice flight attendant if I could check out the cockpit… She asked me to rush behind her as she guided my way up the stairs towards into the World Business Class section. The Captain was there, and the flight attendant introduced me to him… He was happy to meet me and show me around the cockpit.


Its all I could manage with an iPhone camera….hey, do you see the M&Ms? :D


The Boeing 747’s cockpit is quite a feel! Looking down from the windshield was the blue nose of KLM’s iconic livery. Add to that, the amount of space in the cockpit was admirable - this was my first time inside a wide body cockpit! And obviously, the top of the world feel because of the Boeing 747’s cockpit - it was perhaps some of the best few minutes in my life! I was escorted back downstairs and the crew members wished me a great flight back home and happy holidays. I was in very good spirits after my first ever transatlantic flight. I found one of the more empty places to sit at and connected to the internet.

With that, I conclude my first experience with KLM, and its been a wonderful one!