Baltic Outlook introduces you to some of the most important people at airBaltic – its flight crew members, who have some of the most interesting hobbies.

HOBBY

Dāvids’ hobby is cars – anything to do with cars, but especially the organising of various events focusing on cars. He also enjoys car tuning. He repainted his first car, a simple red 1993 Volkswagen Golf that had begun to show rust, in four different colours in the backyard of his parents’ house. He drove that old Golf for another six years, from the moment he received his driving licence. And even though he has had another car for some time now, the old Golf still sits at his parents’ house. ‘For sentimental reasons, I can’t bring myself to scrap it,’ he says with a smile. Recently Dāvids bought his first ‘weekend’ car – a BMW Z3, which is a two seat convertible from the 90’s.

    Dāvids is from Liepāja. All of his friends are from Liepāja, too, and they’re also all car enthusiasts. ‘We often spent our free time driving around the city, and we’d see other groups of friends doing the same thing, driving around the city in interesting or beautiful cars,’ he recalls. ‘At the time, there was no car club in Liepāja that organised events for car enthusiasts, so I decided that I should try to bring together all the local car enthusiasts myself – both from Liepāja and from the surrounding towns. That’s how the Liepāja Cars club was born.’

    The first car event was attended only by Dāvids’ friends, and there were only about ten cars. But thanks to social media, the second event was already much more popular, attracting 60 cars. Subsequent events have seen about 200 participating cars.

    ‘The car enthusiasts are mostly younger guys – 18 to 25 years old – and in that age group, an old BMW, Volkswagen, or Audi model is definitely the most popular,’ Dāvids explains. ‘Older guys can afford more interesting cars, and we’ve seen all sorts of things, such as an old Audi UR-Quattro, BMW E34 M5, Nissan GT-R, and so on. The amount and diversity of the type of cars attending is countless.’ Incidentally, Dāvids has also organised car limbos at these gatherings of car enthusiasts. ‘It’s just like when people dance the limbo!,’ he says.

    In September 2022, Dāvids organised a car show next to the Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepāja, which featured 40 of the most beautiful cars. There have also been track days at the Rude karting track near Liepāja, where anyone who wishes can test their skills behind the wheel of a car.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Becoming a pilot was a childhood dream for Dāvids. The first time he flew in an airplane was at the age of ten or twelve, when he went on a trip with his parents.

    ‘I felt immense excitement that first time the aircraft took off, and after that it was all I could think about – becoming a pilot was what I wanted to do,’ he says. ‘But later I gave up on that dream, because it didn’t seem possible. My family couldn’t afford the tuition fees; it was very expensive, and the future didn’t look that bright, either. But in 2018, when I was in my final year at Liepāja State Technical College, I was at a friend’s birthday party, and I heard that one of the guests was intending to or was already studying to become a pilot. I later contacted him and bombarded him with messages and questions. That’s how I found out about the airBaltic Pilot Academy and decided to give it a try.’                  

Dāvids has been flying since January 2023, and by the way, airBaltic hired him right after he graduated from the Pilot Academy. He had just passed the last test at the academy, which was the skill test for a commercial pilot licence, and he was invited to a job interview the very next day. Just a little over 12 hours had passed since the test. Dāvids explains that, even though sometimes his days at work may seem similar, they can also be very different; for example, something unexpected may come up and the crew needs to find a solution for it. Dāvids says that his colleagues at airBaltic are also great, especially the captains he flies with. They’re all very communicative and are always willing to share their experience with others.

Words by Ilze Pole

Photo by Kaspars Krafts (Photo Agency)