September 2nd, 2010
One inevitable consequence of working in the aviation industry is an idolization of pilots. As aviation bloggers, the Wingtips team is certainly not immune to this fate. But as anyone who has ever been on an airBaltic flight surely knows, this aviator adoration is completely justified, because commercial pilots certainly cut an impressive figure. On this blog, the Wingtips crew has had the chance to talk with some of the airline’s most renowned pilots, like Gerhard Ramcke, as well as to experience what pilots feel when they’re up in the air, at airBaltic’s flight simulator. But one question remained to be answered: how, exactly, does one become a commercial pilot?
Path to the Skies
In order to find out, Wingtips turned to one of the airline’s most recent hires, Markus Salmberg. A native of Sweden, Markus flew his first commercial route for the airline just last Thursday. But his path to the skies began much earlier—back in October of 2007, when Markus began studying for his Private Pilot’s License (PPL) in Sweden. He sat down behind the wheel of a real single-engine plane three months later, in January of 2008, when he flew an aircraft for the first time. After more than forty-five hours of flight time, he received his PPL. But that was just the first step in a long process of studying, testing, and training, which would culminate three years later in Riga, just across the Baltic Sea from his home in Stockholm.
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September 1st, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! Wingtips announces the first ever Plane Lucky competition!
Today, beginning at 10 a.m. sharp, Wingtips will ask its readers one question every hour (10:00, 11:00, 12:00, etc.). The questions will test your knowledge of airBaltic, with topics ranging from aircraft types to the BalticMiles program. The first person to answer the most questions correctly wins a free round-trip ticket to the airBaltic destination of his or her choice!
A new question will appear every hour, on the hour, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The more you know about airBaltic fleet, destinations, on board menu… (take these as clues), the better your chances of winning. But you never know — you may just get plane lucky!
10 a.m. Question 1
Name all four aircraft types in airBaltic fleet.
Answer: Boeing 757, Boeing 737, Fokker-50 and Bombardier Q400 NextGen
First correct answer posted by Ieva
11 a.m. Question 2
What is the exact flight time for route Riga-Tbilisi?
Answer: 3:30
First correct answer posted by Edgars
12 p.m. Question 3
How many BalticMiles can you earn flying with airBaltic from London to Dushanbe (basic BM membership, Economy class).
Answer: 2500
First correct answer posted by Aivis
1 p.m. Question 4
What is the most popular meal on airBaltic flights?
Answer: Panini
First correct answer posted by Ieva
2 p.m. Question 5
What is the length of Riga International Airport runway?
Answer: 3200 m
First correct answer posted by Edgars
3 p.m. Question 6
Which destinations in Finland does airBaltic fly to?
Answer: Helsinki, Kittilä, Kuopio, Kuusamo, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa
First correct answer posted by Aivis
4 p.m. Question 7
What is Dash Q400 chief pilot Gerhard Ramcke’s favourite commercial route?
Answer: Riga-Milan
First correct answer posted by Mondragon
5 p.m. Question 8
At the airBaltic Training centre, future pilots can train to fly in the simulator for which aicraft?
First correct answer posted by Edgars
And… congratulations to Edgars! :) We will contact you shortly.
Thank you everyone for participation. More competitions are coming soon, so keep your eyes open for your chance to get Plane Lucky!
August 31st, 2010
Traveling is an exhausting business. First comes packing (a process mostly consumed by printing confirmation documents and coiling wires for various electronic devices). Then comes the ride to the airport (mostly consumed by sitting in traffic and counting the dwindling minutes until your departure). Next, the long wait at the registration desks (more traffic, more documents, more minutes). By the time you have checked your bags and shuffled in your socks through security, you are about ready for a break.
Fortunately, airBaltic offers its passengers an oasis of calm amidst the frenzied rush of modern travel. After arriving in the departures area, passengers can run the gauntlet of perfume shops and souvenir stores and seek a much needed rest behind the glass doors of the airBaltic Business Lounge, right next to the transfer center near gate B1.
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August 23rd, 2010
After preparing its previous blog entry about the work of airBaltic’s cabin attendants, the Wingtips team was curious to learn how, exactly, the airline produces such stellar crew members as Andrejs Nagodkins and Linda Roga. The answer, of course, lies in cabin crew training. And so the Wingtips crew took a little trip back to the airBaltic training center, this time to find out what it’s like to go through the airline’s rigorous two-month training course for flight attendants.
At the airBaltic Training center, Wingtips was greeted by Ilona Stafecka, one of the instructors for the training program as well as a veteran flight attendant for the airline. A spirited brunette with a lively personality, who also radiates diligence and a serious attention to detail, Stafecka is exactly the kind of cabin attendant you would want to have guaranteeing the safety of your flight. This is also what makes her an excellent instructor for training airBaltic future cabin attendants.
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August 17th, 2010
Meeting a cabin attendant for an interview is no easy task. First come the phone calls—which seem always to end in that familiar series of chimes and a voice announcing that the phone has been turned off or is out of the service area. Then, when telephone contact finally is made, the conversation is inevitably drowned out by loud radio static and airport intercoms blaring in the background. But when a quieter spot is finally found, the greatest obstacle presents itself: the schedule. “Can’t meet tomorrow, I’m going to Rome,” they’ll say. “And nope, not tonight: flying to Dublin.” “Thursday’s no good, either: we’ve got an overnight somewhere up in Scandinavia— Tromsø, I think.”
But after much persistence and patience, a time to meet is finally agreed upon—though even these meetings are just barely managed, falling either right after a flight or just before a trip to one of the dozens of destinations in the airBaltic network. The job of cabin attendant is not an easy one—long hours, many flights, and a formidable workload. But as immediately becomes apparent when meeting one of the airline’s many stellar cabin attendants, the job is also one of the most fascinating and dynamic occupations available today, and most flight attendants simply couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
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August 11th, 2010
The image of a commercial pilot has been firmly engrained in our collective imagination. Swaggering down airport hallways dressed in a dazzling white shirt, a neatly knotted tie, and well-pressed black slacks, the light glinting off the shiny stripes on his sleeves and shoulders, the pilot has become an icon of the modern-day world.
However, this image of a pilot extends beyond merely physical attributes – the shiny black shoes and aviator sunglasses, the smart cap and leather briefcase. We also have a firm idea of how a pilot behaves: cool and confident and graceful under pressure, but also always ready with a sly grin, a quick wink of the eye, and a few easy-going jokes.
But what gives rise to this attitude? What makes a pilot a pilot – that is, someone so calm and collected that he seems unfazed even by the heaviest bouts of turbulence. (Just think of that easy drawl over the microphone – “Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re experiencing a little turbulence here; but don’t worry, it should be over shortly” – as you clutch your seat in horror.) Perhaps the answer lies up in the skies.
The Wingtips team recently had the chance to find out what really goes on up in the air – what a pilot feels and experiences during his daily journeys through the heavens. Fear not, however: the pilot of your recent flight to Copenhagen was not a team of aviation bloggers. The Wingtips crew took a practice flight of Latvian airspace without ever leaving the ground, at airBaltic’s Boeing 737 flight simulator.
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August 6th, 2010
Photo: Jānis Saliņš, f64
Want to pay a visit to the biggest restaurant in Riga? A place that serves more than 4,500 meals a day, made by a staff of more than 150 employees? Well, if you’ve recently returned from an airBaltic flight, then you’ve already dined there. Whether you had a panini sandwich and a Coke, or enjoyed a full gourmet meal of farm-fresh products in Business Class, all of the meals served onboard airBaltic flights are prepared fresh every day by the hard-working crew at LSG Sky Chefs, whose kitchens are housed right here at the Riga International Airport.
The facility of LSG Sky Chefs is tucked away deep inside the airport territory, in a low-slung concrete building not far from the airBaltic airplane hangars. A visitor to the territory would never guess that this unassuming structure contains anything other than aircraft equipment or storage space – that is, if it weren’t for the tantalizing aroma of delicious, freshly baked food wafting from the door of the building, filling the air with the tantalizing scent of homemade meals and sending a rumble through the stomachs of the airBaltic engineers and mechanics working nearby.
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