A different way of flying

It’s now been half a year since Erno Hildén took over, in aviation terms, the captaincy of airBaltic. His new role as CEO of the Latvian national carrier means exactly that – navigating the airline through some very adverse weather conditions, taking into account air traffic controllers’ suggestions and directions as well as the needs of passengers, i.e. stakeholders.

Hildén’s vast experience comes in very handy. In his previous roles as chief financial officer of SAS Scandinavian Airlines and chief operations officer and chief financial officer at Finnair, he built a career turning around airlines in financial difficulty, rebuilding them into sustainable businesses and steering them through some of the most complex transformation processes the sector has seen. He also spent two years in Saudi Arabia as a senior executive of Saudi Arabian Airlines, one of the region’s largest carriers, helping drive a major transformation programme and the launch of a new low-cost airline.

I’d like to begin the conversation by asking what you mean by not having had a single boring day at work?

It’s very true, and what I mean is that the airline business is so dynamic. There’s always something happening somewhere, and almost always it has a very considerable impact on what we do here. Managing all that is just so challenging that it makes the work very fascinating. But it cuts both ways. It’s not always the positive aspects that make me say the work is fascinating; there are also very difficult moments, but those are things that really build you and make you who you really are.

As they say, calm seas never make great sailors. Unless you’re brought up in difficult circumstances, you’ll never reach your full potential. I guess that just adds to the fascination of this business. It’s just so bloody hard! (Laughs)

Is that something that keeps you in this business?

That’s a difficult question to answer… But it has to be a big part of it, because it’s not about the money – there are other businesses that pay much better than aviation ever would. But for me, and I’d say for most of the people, flying is something fascinating. It’s very easy to get excited by everything we do here, what any airline does. Just looking out of the window in my office and seeing the aircraft – it’s brilliant! That has to be a very big motivational factor behind it all. I just like doing this a lot.

Do you remember your very first flight?

I do vividly remember it. My very first flight was actually in a helicopter when I was about ten years old. It just took off, did a short circle, and came back, but I can still remember the feeling in my stomach; it was like an amusement park experience.

My first flight in an airplane happened in the 80s. It was summer, I had just finished the 8th grade and went to England for summer school to learn English. I was 13 or 14. A lot of people nowadays, including my son, who’s 12, have already flown numerous times by that age. Flying is much more accessible nowadays than it was back then, and that’s a big ‘feel good’ factor for anyone working with airlines, because we make this possible for everybody – to get to see the world.

Have you ever wanted to become a pilot?

I guess I have, because I’ve done private pilot license studies. I found it fascinating, but just as I was about to take off and get my wings, fuel costs really skyrocketed. I did the math and realised that this hobby would be too expensive for me to pursue.

I spent one winter attending theory classes and learning everything about flying. Much of that has been very useful to me professionally as well. Generic executives usually don’t really know anything about how things go and how the operations are designed to run. So having gone through that has been really helpful to me. Obviously, I have no direct role, and I’m not trying to intervene with any of our operations here at airBaltic – we have way better people to do that. But knowing the background and the thinking behind it helps me to better understand them and what they do.

For us and for any airline, flight safety is the most important thing, and for that we will never cut any corners. Being raised in that culture and being an airline executive, that’s a very valuable combination for me.

And your first flight with airBaltic?

That was only in 2025, prior to me joining the airline. My first trip took place in the summer, and I began working here on December 1. But airBaltic was not a stranger to me. In my previous position as the CFO of SAS, airBaltic was one of our most cherished ACMI partners. We were buying capacity from airBaltic, and I have to say that, from that perspective, the perception of airBaltic was extremely positive. airBaltic was by far the best partner we had for SAS back in the day. Therefore, I knew what I was dealing with. That also made it easier for me to have those discussions about the potential job here, and ultimately to agree to start working at airBaltic.

How did it feel as a passenger?

I think we’re easily among the very best in terms of service quality. Our operations are impeccable, as they should be. We have the highest safety standards, and we’ve been repeatedly ranked among the safest airlines in the world. We don’t take that for granted; we work very hard every day to keep up these standards. You can always, always find ways to improve, but that really is the foundation, and as I said, we’re not ever going to take any shortcuts to jeopardise that.

The thing that’s most relevant – safety – is always going to be there, as well as the quality of our service and our product. Those are the things that I’m very proud of. In my opinion, airBaltic currently ranks among the class leaders worldwide in service quality for short and mid-haul flights. To me, we’re surely among the very best.

That’s very nice to hear.

I don’t want this to sound like bragging, but I’m really happy with the product we have. But we’re not going to take that for granted either, we’re going to make sure that it stays that way. One of the most important things is to really know what our customers want to buy and what they’re willing to pay for that. Therefore, we’re never going to aim for some ultra-luxurious service if it means that it’ll likely be too expensive. What we want to have is a perfectly tailored product for our customer segments, measured in a way that it provides a great value.

Maybe that explains why some people were so upset the past few summers, when airBaltic had to turn to ACMI, leasing aircraft from other airlines. They were so used to the quality of airBaltic’s product that it was very difficult to accept something else.

That’s a hard one to judge for me, because I wasn’t here at the time. I can easily understand that the reaction wasn’t good. I’ve read some of the comments on social media saying: yeah, we have brand-new aircraft, but they’re flying for other companies, and now we have something else coming in to fly airBaltic flights. That’s an impossible message to sell. I mean, there’s no way you can get anything but negative reactions to something like that. But it’s also important to understand that it was the best alternative available for the company. It was done to be able to still serve those passengers in a decent way.

The circumstances were very difficult. The fleet of Airbus A220-300 aircraft was suffering the past few years because of the engine issues, but fortunately all of that is now behind us and we have full availability for this summer. That’s a major motivation boost for us. Finally, we have all the tools, and everything else in terms of operations is in great shape. Everything that is in our power is running quite well at the moment. Except for the fuel prices we’re dealing with this summer. But we don’t have any direct influence on it – it is what it is, and we’ll have to adapt and adjust.

When the war on Iran began in late March, there were concerns – fuelled by clickable headlines in digital media – that there would only be enough fuel for five or six weeks and then flights would stop altogether.

I think that the initial reactions were exaggerated in a way, and the initial view of things was grimmer than the reality. The reason for the situation improving is that there’s now better availability from other sources. Not all the oil and aviation fuel comes from the Gulf; there are other sources as well, including the North Sea and the United States. It now seems that the supply is enough, there’s no physical shortage in sight, and that’s a very good thing – nobody should be concerned about that. We also haven’t seen any indication of that in our network.

It’s also important to understand that nobody has more incentive to follow the situation than airlines. We’re doing everything we can to make sure the availability is there. As I said, there are now no concerns about fuel shortages. But in early June, the spot price, or market price, was more than double what it was when we started the year. That was quite a shock to the system and something all the airlines around the world were suffering from.

It had happened before, but the difference was that this was a prolonged period of such high fuel price levels. We’ve seen similar levels before, but they’ve been for shorter periods. That was a new curveball that all the airlines had to manage.

It’s been six months since you began working at airBaltic. What has surprised you here? What are your impressions?

I don’t know if it’s a surprise, because I already had high expectations when I decided to join this airline, but I really enjoy the company’s culture – it’s younger and more energetic than at other airlines. That’s something very different from what I was used to. airBaltic is not a startup anymore, it celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, but it’s also not 100 years old, like some of its competitors. I really enjoy this energy, and to me, airBaltic is a great place to work despite all the difficulties and challenges.

One other big benefit – and once again, it’s not a surprise to me – is that we have simpler operations because we have only one aircraft type in our fleet. That makes things very easy and uncomplicated compared to our competitors, who deal with various types of aircraft and consequently many more potential challenges. That’s very refreshing for me.

It’s great to see the dedication that all our teams have to do really well, and that is ultimately the most important thing. And also the most difficult thing to achieve if you don’t have it. I really hope that I, too, will be able to help fuel that energy and maintain the culture that we have. I think it’s one of the key strengths of airBaltic.

Here I’d like to touch on a quite big, deep, and all-encompassing question about the advantages of having an airline. Locals here have this very love–hate relationship with airBaltic.

Yes, I’ve seen some of that, but I don’t think it’s any different from other national airlines. Some of that exists in most places. But maybe it’s up to 11 here in Latvia.

Can you give your opinion on what it means to a country, to a country’s economy, to have an airline? It’s not just purely a means of transportation; it has a huge impact even on those who fly only once a year.

Yes, it’s a huge question, and a very multi-layered one. The impact is indeed huge, and very positive in so many ways that it would be really exhausting to give a full list, but I’ll try to focus on the highlights.

The first one is the connectivity. Because having an airline, having its main operating base in a nation’s capital, is a huge generator of activity and connectivity for the country. It drives everything so much that it’s actually very difficult to comprehend. I know the Bank of Latvia recently did a study to quantify airBaltic’s impact on Latvia’s economy. Through a recent Bank of Latvia study, the estimated contribution of airBaltic to the Latvian economy is up to 1.5 percent of GDP.

Compare that to the alternative: by not having an airline with an operating base in the capital, the number of connections that you automatically and immediately miss is huge. If you talk with businesses, corporations, whatever authorities, you hear that the impact for them is tremendous. If they’re given the choice, they will always go for having an airline and connectivity. For any corporation, for any business, large or small, the offered schedule and the number of destinations served makes a huge difference.

For many, it may be hard to fully understand the benefits, because most people here don’t have the experience of that alternative, of not having an airline. But we know that there’s so much feedback from other countries in the region that don’t have an airline with the main operating base in the capital, and they’re saying, oh, we wish we’d have that! At times people don’t know what they have before they miss it or lose it, and we’re not going to lose it for Latvia, because it’s a tremendous asset for the country. It fuels all areas of the economy, and the connectivity for ordinary people’s lives is also huge.

I’m also thinking about the fact that we employ 3000 people, which brings a lot of activity to the economy. So, the breadth of the influence of airBaltic in Latvia is massive. This is also something that’s very hard to comprehend if you only think about your own family or inner circle.

Obviously, we don’t want to have an airline for Latvia that doesn’t stand on its own feet. That means that our most important thing is to make sure that the company becomes financially sustainable. That’s the number-one priority given to me to work on, and that’s something that all of us here are working on very hard. This year is going to be very big in that sense.

But I also have to say that we can’t give any comments on that for the media right now, because we’re bound by market abuse regulations and rules, and we must follow them. The plans and discussions we’re having that are aimed at building financial strength for the company are also very, very confidential. That’s a difficult situation to manage because, as we’ve seen, there’s a vacuum of information; everybody is desperate for us to show the plan and disclose all the information, but we’re not in a position to do that, and we will not do that. It’s also important to understand that none of our competitors are doing so either. Nobody is sharing their strategies and plans with great detail, because all of that would be used against us. These are things we just have to navigate through.

Back to you and your previous roles at Finnair and SAS. Could we sum them up as ‘crisis manager’?

No, not really. I mean, many airlines have been in constant crisis over the years, and along my career path I’ve had some challenging situations, but I wouldn’t call it crisis management. Instead, I’d say change management, which requires more of a transformation and modernising things and reacting to market realities.

Some of the airlines I’ve worked with have a very long history and a very strong legacy coming from that. Before airBaltic even existed, the airline business was very different, very heavily regulated. Prices were set not in the market but in other ways. Many of the legacy airlines in Europe had to grow out of that history, and that turned out to be very challenging for many of them. That explains the need for transformation.

airBaltic hasn’t lived through that history, and this means there’s no history that needs to be changed. But we don’t have the biggest home market, and therefore we need to be very lean and efficient in everything we do to be able to make a modest margin. We just have to do everything better and more efficiently than the others.

What would you say are the first things to do to get an airline back on track?

For me, the main philosophy revolves around being brilliant in absolutely everything you do. In the airline business, the margins are so thin that you cannot afford to not do well, even very well, in every single aspect of the business. That’s a big requirement.

Then, going into the substance: the most important thing for any airline is to have a structurally profitable network. You need to make sure that the flights you operate are the best ones for you. That starts with network management and network strategy. That’s something we’re quite actively working on right now, as are all our competitors. In my opinion, that’s the most important thing for any airline.

When you have an efficient network, you need to make sure that you also have commercial capabilities to achieve the best potential revenue for those flights. And then you need to combine that with a very competitive cost base.

This is the trinity that should ultimately bring you the results. But to be successful, a company also requires a strong balance sheet, which comes when you have these basic ingredients in good shape.

At airBaltic, we’re not starting from a neutral position due to many years of difficult times. That gives us the task of reinforcing our balance sheet to have a strong financial footing for the coming years.

Where do you want to take this airline?

I want airBaltic to become sustainably profitable, and I want airBaltic to be the leading airline in the Baltic states. This is our home, and this is the market we want to serve very well and connect it to the rest of the world. We’re already the dominant player in the Baltics, but we’re not sustainably profitable yet. Solving that riddle, cracking that code to get there, is what I really want to achieve. And I know we’ve made good progress on that.

Unfortunately, the circumstances are not the easiest ones, but we just need to make sure that we keep our heads down and keep on doing what we’ve been doing. I’m very grateful to everybody at airBaltic. The people here are doing a tremendously good job every day, and for that I want to repeat my sincere thanks to everybody for their commitment.

It really hasn’t been easy for them. One thing is all the global factors affecting the business, but there’s a lot of negative publicity, which is also difficult to bear.

Yes, that’s why we’re doing our best to give a full picture of things here, because, as we know, the media and certain other external stakeholders do not always have the full picture. But they’re often very quick to give their comments and recommendations, and sometimes just to look for a sensation somewhere where there isn’t one to be found. But that’s how they operate, and that’s something we’ll have to live with. We’re spending a lot of time and effort to make sure that we’re giving our own people the bigger picture so that they can position themselves in this crossfire of all sorts of comments coming from all sorts of places.

Peace of mind and feeling safe is something that’s important for all of us. We want to make sure that our teams are taken care of and that they’re not only being fed by the media and semi-aggressive comments from the outside. We want them to be well-informed on how things really are with and around airBaltic.

What gives you satisfaction at work? Feeling that it has been a good day in the office?

Well, I guess having had enough challenges along the way makes it easier to celebrate the small wins. This is not a sprint; this is a marathon. That means that to be able to survive the entire distance, you cannot constantly be unhappy while driving only for the ultimate goal. You need to have some milestones along the way, learn to celebrate those, and have satisfaction for reaching something that may not be the full distance but is still super important for staying on that course. It’s not always easy to do, and I have to remind myself of that at times, but whenever I do, I’ve so far been able to recalibrate and stay on course for the bigger goal. Enjoying the small things in life and getting energised from other people, that’s also super important for me.

The day before this interview, we were taking a tour with the ground operations teams, and that was the highlight of my day! Because whenever I go to meet the people and see them smiling in their day-to-day jobs, that makes me feel very good. That’s all the reason I need to stay on course.

How do you like Riga? What do you enjoy here?

Riga is a fantastic city! The Old Town and the Daugava River – they’re phenomenally beautiful! It’s really good to see the city coming to life in summer, it’s so different compared to winter. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to go and really explore anything in depth, but right now I just enjoy walking around the town and observing things, seeing the people. I really enjoy the beauty of the city.

Words by Ilze Pole

Photos courtesy of airBaltic by Anna Matule