Flight attendants read aloud online during reading days
Now that primary schools and daycare centers in the Netherlands are closed until February 7, it is a challenge for many parents to combine working from home with school work. And making time for relaxation is something that is often overlooked. Many Transavia employees who work from home also face these challenges. A number of Transavia flight attendants have now found a nice solution for this.
Many flight attendants are now flying less and took the initiative to offer colleagues' children some relaxation by reading a book to them during the National Reading Days. Esther van der Ploeg and Rozemarijn van Steen are flight attendants at Transavia and are committed to this: “Our schedules are a lot emptier than normal during this corona time. However, we are used to providing our passengers with the most enjoyable and safe flight possible. We miss that enormously. That is why we are happy that we can commit ourselves in a different way to larger social goals or in this case small activities that can make a difference for someone.”
The first online reading session was on Friday afternoon, January 29. Rozemarijn and Esther have read to children aged 3 to 9 years: “It was great fun to read to these children of colleagues and not only relieve the burden on the parents but also offer the children a nice relaxing experience.” The children also appreciated the initiative. The reading team received many wonderful reactions such as: 'our children enjoyed it so much and this is certainly worth repeating'.
Esther: “It was really heart-warming to see how nicely the children responded to our stories and for me it was wonderful to wear my uniform again.” Next week, Transavia will again organize reading sessions and children will have the opportunity to take a digital look into the cockpit where a pilot will explain the instruments in the cockpit. There are plans to also offer these initiatives externally.