“I spend more time in the sky than on land”

When you fly on a plane, do you ever wonder who is that person sitting behind the closed door? Lets open it slightly and find out! 🙂

-Hi Gleb! How are you?

-Hi, I am very happy to be here today, thank you for inviting me to this interview.

-Thank you for agreeing. Lets start our interview. You have a very interesting profession:) Could you tell me about your choice of profession.

-Well, you would say it’s a bit naive but the main reason I became an airline pilot are the movies that I watched when I was little. Such films as Star Wars, Top Gun, Blue Thunder and of course The Aviator. I was fascinated with flying and I was dreaming to master such a complicated machine as an airplane or a starship.

-Ohh. Thats so cute. “We all come from childhood”. Sounds good and a little romantic. Did your parents take part in the decision or its only your choice?

-No, actually my family was against my choice because of the high risks associated with this job but since flying was at the top of my list since I was about 8 it was a no-brainer for me when it came to choosing my future profession and nobody could do anything about it.

-Wow, its very inspiring! Being mostly in the sky, what do you like to do when you are on land, in your free time?

-In my spare time I like to be active. I love hiking, long walks through the city centre, play tennis or football. It really fills me up with strength and positive energy. Also as you could have already noticed I’m a movie fan. I’m always happy to go to the cinema and check out a new film.

-Sounds fun! Now, could you tell me 3 advantages and disadvantages of your job?

-Ok, the first one and the main advantage is that you travel a lot. What’s better than having someone else pay for you to see the country or world?!
Also it is very interesting and you never get bored. The technical systems, interface, regulations are continuously changing becoming more sophisticated so you always have to keep yourself up-to-date and that means a lot of studying and skill tests.
And of course the views. Its just marvellous sitting at an altitude of 11 kilometres and watch sunsets and sunrises.

On the other hand it is a rather demanding profession. First of all I would like to say about the jet lags. For example today you are flying to Barcelona and its -3 hours there from your local time and tomorrow you fly to Novosibirsk where its +4 hours. After a week of such flight you are absolutely exhausted. At the same time on your workplace you always have to be concentrated, prepared to take action if something goes wrong. Act fast and calm at the same time. So you have to develop the habit to rest and sleep well no matter where and when.
Also it is very important to look after yourself in the outside world, keep yourself fit and healthy because health is the biggest asset for the pilot in order to continue flying.

-There are pros and cons in all professions. Only love and passion to the profession helps to cope with difficulties. Do you ever have a feeling that you are tired of everything, have you not regretted that you have chosen this particular profession?

-No, I am very happy with my choice and at the moment I can’t see myself doing anything else with the same joy and passion.I am looking forward to becoming a captain in the near future, so everything is going good and there are a lot of new heights for me to conquer.

-Good luck! Thanks for the interview, it was very interesting for me to talk to you

-Thank you very much! Me too.