Vliegende Hollanders - Season 1

With the organization of the First Aviation Exhibition in Amsterdam (ELTA), Albert Plesman wants to realize his dream: to introduce civil aviation in the Netherlands. At the ELTA Plesman meets the famous aircraft manufacturer Anthony Fokker. The men turn out to be opposites, but despite their differences they have to work together.

KLM is struggling with start-up problems, the company is experiencing major losses and Plesman argues a lot with his Board of Directors about the course to be followed. Fokker is now struggling with an enormous tax debt and persuades Plesman to order new aircraft from him. They seem to be on the same side, but can Plesman trust the smart Fokker?

KLM's losses have risen to record levels and Plesman is threatened with dismissal. Fokker is doing very well, he participates in the Ford Air Reliability Tour in America and also meets a new love. Then he discovers that Plesman is deviously trying to get rid of him in the Netherlands by going with a competitor.

The stock market crash forces Albert Plesman to work even harder to keep KLM afloat at the expense of his family life. His wife Suze Plesman misses her familiar role as a sounding board and she is reconsidering her position as 'wife of'. In America, Fokker has his own problems as a result of the crisis, which his wife Violet Austman also suffers greatly from.

After his failed American adventure, Fokker is back in the Netherlands and is working on a biography about himself. Meanwhile, Plesman threatens to lose the lucrative mail transport to a competitor, and is forced to use the outdated Fokker 'Pelikaan' for a dangerous flight to the Dutch East Indies.

Plesman registers his first American aircraft, DC-2 'de Uiver' for an air race to Australia. With this he wants to prove that these metal devices are better than the Fokker aircraft. The whole of the Netherlands sympathizes with the exciting journey. When Plesman discovers that Fokker has negotiated the sales rights for the DC-2, the race becomes even more exciting.

When three KLM aircraft crash in a week, Plesman and Fokker blame each other. They argue through the press, and Fokker tries to convince Plesman through public opinion to order new civilian planes from him again. The relationship between the men reaches a low point and Plesman is dealt with a heavy blow to his private life.

KLM is making a profit for the first time after twenty years, mainly due to the many refugees leaving their country for an approaching war. When airspaces are closed all over Europe, Plesman develops an idealistic plan to keep the peace. But he needs Fokker to market this plan.