Brussels Airlines: a Flemish company?

[lumumba]

http://m.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20160214_02128218
In the article the a Walloon minister said that Brussels Airlines is a Flemish company today.
I have to admit that I also feel it.
90% of the cabine crew and ground staff looks Flemish to me but I'm only a passenger so I have no inside figures.
And I realy hope it's not true.

[crew1990]

I don't really agree, at least not totally (and i'm walloon) there are different departments, like in any company, some more french speaking (like the marketing, or the car drivers) and some department more flemish speaking, unfortunately the department with a direct link with the client are more flemish speaking (cabin crew, ticketing, passenger service agent) so for the passenger it can look like a very flemish company, but if you see the back office you realize that it's not.

But of course the cabin crew and passenger service agent are the two biggest department.

Also we don't have to forget where brussels airlines come from, DAT, a flemish Antwerp based airlines, so it's kind of logical. But the merge with Virgin Express which was more french speaking brought a lot of FR colleagues, it helped to balance a little bit.

[Avroflyer]

My gosh does it really matter? It's just again a politician wanting to cause a stir .

As far as I'm concerned the Belgian flag still prides on the planes and everyone speaks 3 or more languages which of course include French AND Dutch

[Poiu]

My gosh does it really matter? It's just again a politician wanting to cause a stir .

As far as I'm concerned the Belgian flag still prides on the planes and everyone speaks 3 or more languages which of course include French AND Dutch

Exactly!
The only reason why the majority of cabin crew is Flemish is because of the requirement to speak three languages. Language skills are generally better in the north than in the south. Politicians are a good example of this.

[Acid-drop]

He's right to sell. There are other success on the other side to invest in.
With a brighter outlook too.

[OO-ITR]

90% of the cabine crew and ground staff looks Flemish to me but I'm only a passenger so I have no inside figures.
And I realy hope it's not true.

What do you mean they 'LOOK' Flemish? Didn't know you can see someone is Flemish by looking at him/her...

And no it's not a Flemish company, it is a Brussels company, hence the name...

[Acid-drop]

Obviously the faces are not the same
I bet you can recognize a holander easy, same here.
But it get harder with limburg and liege people having the same history obviously, but limburg is limburg right, its not flanders )

I'm in BRU this morning : 100% flemish so far. Airport staff, not SN (I avoid flying SN)

[lumumba]

90% of the cabine crew and ground staff looks Flemish to me but I'm only a passenger so I have no inside figures.
And I realy hope it's not true.

What do you mean they 'LOOK' Flemish? Didn't know you can see someone is Flemish by looking at him/her...

And no it's not a Flemish company, it is a Brussels company, hence the name...

Look is not the good word but when you speak you recognize easily the difference.

[lumumba]

My gosh does it really matter? It's just again a politician wanting to cause a stir .

As far as I'm concerned the Belgian flag still prides on the planes and everyone speaks 3 or more languages which of course include French AND Dutch

I'm not agree with this statement !!!
At all ...I think it's very important that the employees come from all the regions from the country.
And in the numbers they represent in the country at least approximately .

[Avnu]

Maybe Marcourt can start up Air Meuse again

[YYZ727]

My gosh does it really matter? It's just again a politician wanting to cause a stir .

As far as I'm concerned the Belgian flag still prides on the planes and everyone speaks 3 or more languages which of course include French AND Dutch

I'm not agree with this statement !!!
At all ...I think it's very important that the employees come from all the regions from the country.
And in the numbers they represent in the country at least approximately .

I for one, i don't mind if they're Flemish, Bruxellois, or Walloon. As long as they're competent....

[lumumba]

My gosh does it really matter? It's just again a politician wanting to cause a stir .

As far as I'm concerned the Belgian flag still prides on the planes and everyone speaks 3 or more languages which of course include French AND Dutch

I'm not agree with this statement !!!
At all ...I think it's very important that the employees come from all the regions from the country.
And in the numbers they represent in the country at least approximately .

I for one, i don't mind if they're Flemish, Bruxellois, or Walloon. As long as they're competent....

So you are seeing that there is no competent people in Brussels or in Walonie...
That's not an argument we now the Belgium problematic it's complicated so it's very important to have people from around the country...
It's also not normal that in the train station of Brussels Airport the announcement on the screens is not bilingual it's only in Dutch.
Same problem with some road direction panels that are only in Dutch ..
Etc....

[sean1982]

Last time I checked BRU is in the flemish region. As you expect everyone to be bi-lingual. Start with being bi-lingual yourself then? Merci dank u wel

[Stij]

So you are seeing that there is no competent people in Brussels or in Walonie...

I don't conclude that from YYZ727's comment. I conclude he's indifferent where they come from.

I can agree staff should come from all parts of Belgium, on the condition the necessary technical and / or aeronautical and language (EN-FR-NL-...) skills are mastered.

For the moment these language skills are better in Flanders than in Wallonia. However, it's shifting a bit: it's improving in Wallonia and deteriorating in Flanders.

On the signs: same can be said for LGG and CRL...
On the announcements: I believe in the Bruxelles-National-Aéroport Railway Station, EMMA speaks four languages, at least for the trains to Brussels

Cheers,

Stij

[b-west]

The announcements and the screens at the nmbs station are quadrilingual, Dutch, French, German and English.

Even though I feel there's a dramatic drop in the knowledge of other languages in Flanders, especially when it comes to French, and equally I'm encountering more and more French speaking Belgians who are fluent in English, it's still far easier to find trilingual staff in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium than it is in the French speaking part. So the "face" of the company, the cabin crew and checkin agents will more often than not be flemish. That doesn't make SN a flemish company, as it says nothing about the staff that works behind the screens. Also, a flemish company is still a Belgian company, regardless what Mr Dewever and his fans might think of it.

And the airline itself is clearly taking on more and more a Belgian identity, with their logo jets, the Belgian products on board, the red devil's sponsorship, etc.

As a Dutch speaking Belgian (who gets annoyed when faced with flemish racism/ignorance and gets equally annoyed when French speaking staff at the airport refuses to speak Dutch) it makes me proud to see a Belgian airline, especially if I'm somewhere in Africa and that B shows up on the tarmac, it feels like home already.

[Stij]

And on the signs again: all the signs aren't even in Dutch! it reads

"Airplane" Zaventem

or

"Airplane" Cargo

What's the problem?

Cheers,

Stij

[White Light]

[quote="crew1990"]there are different departments, like in any company, some more french speaking (like the marketing, or the car drivers) and some department more flemish speaking, unfortunately the department with a direct link with the client are more flemish speaking (cabin crew, ticketing, passenger service agent) so for the passenger it can look like a very flemish company, but if you see the back office you realize that it's not.[/quote]

[quote="Poiu"]The only reason why the majority of cabin crew is Flemish is because of the requirement to speak three languages. Language skills are generally better in the north than in the south.[/quote]

[quote="Stij"]For the moment these language skills are better in Flanders than in Wallonia. However, it's shifting a bit: it's improving in Wallonia and deteriorating in Flanders.[/quote]

With this, everything is said and explained very clearly.

Please, don't turn this aviation forum into political one. Thanks.

[Bel33]

It's just the point of view of Marcourt! It's not the best reference...

[lumumba]

So you are seeing that there is no competent people in Brussels or in Walonie...

I don't conclude that from YYZ727's comment. I conclude he's indifferent where they come from.

I can agree staff should come from all parts of Belgium, on the condition the necessary technical and / or aeronautical and language (EN-FR-NL-...) skills are mastered.

For the moment these language skills are better in Flanders than in Wallonia. However, it's shifting a bit: it's improving in Wallonia and deteriorating in Flanders.

On the signs: same can be said for LGG and CRL...
On the announcements: I believe in the Bruxelles-National-Aéroport Railway Station, EMMA speaks four languages, at least for the trains to Brussels

Cheers,

Stij

Hi Stij
It's not the same for LGG or CRL these are régional airports like Oostende en Antwerpen.
Si no need to be bilingual .
Ok about EMMA but on the screens than announces the trains it's only in Dutch in Brussels it's bilingual .
And some road panels are only in Dutch I don't make a big problem about all this I'm just try to make it better.
It's our national airport for everybody and the same about Brussels Airlines.

[lumumba]

Last time I checked BRU is in the flemish region. As you expect everyone to be bi-lingual. Start with being bi-lingual yourself then? Merci dank u wel

I realy don't like the way you are ?!?!?
First Brussels Airport is a NATIONAL AIrport everything must be in 2 languages at least that's the law.
And I speak 4 languages and Dutch is my mother tongue ....