About my year / Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone! There are no words to describe how grateful I am to have you supporting the DutchPilotGirl channel. I know 2020 has been an insane year, I realize all of us are dealing with our own struggles which not everyone is always aware of. Losing a loved one, losing jobs, a house or losing freedom. We are all in this together. It is why I have great admiration for you, who despite of everything, still decided to take a generous part of your income to support my channel. I am truly grateful for this and extremely lucky to have you playing a part in this community. Thank you so much!

January 2020 I was in simulator training, line training and all kinds of ground courses because I just joined Transavia. Corona was just mentioned once while in the simulator. Due to this ‘innocent flu’, the oxygen masks and headsets should not be used. Apart from that, we did not think of it as a big deal.

I completed my line training in February and performed 3 normal flights during the following weeks. Corona was being discussed more and more and before we realized it… we were all grounded. It was back then, when I first started worrying about my job.

I joined the company simultaneously with 11 other experienced pilots and we were the last people to join. Unfortunately, like most airlines, in case of redundancies LIFO (last in first out) would be applied. Basically it means I would be one of the people to be let go in case the management decided to furlough some pilots. Luckily, they never did.

Fast forward to June… I started flying again! 5 days continuously, 6 days out of base, on a normal roster. Busy months! I flew almost every day… towards Greece, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Egypt and Israel. That lasted until mid August since travel restrictions were slowly being implemented again.

Currently I still have a job, which is due to the loan that the Dutch government provided to the KLM- group, of which Transavia is a part. Our salaries did reduce by 20 % but as long as I am healthy and have a job, I am happy!

I realized more than ever that joining this company was one of the best decisions I ever made. The aviation industry is tough and fluctuating like no other industry. In the months that I wasn’t flying, I focused on future projects such as new websites, the new app, the new training platform and Discord.

A few Patrons decided to be moderator on the Discord server. Thank you Johna, Ryan and Ray for doing an amazing job! I literally, could not have done that without you!

I would love for you to share with me and the others how your year has been. How did this year affect your health and life in general? Is there anything else you’d like to share? Please do!

I would like to wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy, loving, adventurous, fulfilling and successful 2021. May this be the year that you will achieve whatever it is that you want to achieve. I send you and your family nothing but health, love, kindness, support and positive vibes to make all of that happen. Whenever travelling will be possible again and you happen to be in Amsterdam or anywhere near, let’s grab a coffee! ;)

For now, have a great day and I can’t wait to hear about you!

Big hugs, kisses and love from me,

Michelle