Behind the scenes: Meet your new boss!

With its fleet expanding, airBaltic has recently opened vacancies for Captains and Senior First Officers. If you’re looking for a career change, joining airBaltic, which is the leading airline in the region and operates one of the most sophisticated jets in the sky, might be the right call for you! And by the way, Gerhard Ramcke, who’s the Chief Pilot at airBaltic and an aviation professional with more than 20 years of experience, will be your boss.

As a captain on Airbus A220-300 aircraft, you’ll lead operations aboard one of the most modern and youngest fleets in Europe. This role places you at the forefront of airBaltic’s commitment to safety, innovation, and exceptional service, ensuring a safe and enjoyable flying experience for passengers. In line with the airline’s continuous efforts to ensure its employees are well-compensated and maintain a healthy work-life balance, airBaltic has recently announced the establishment of new crew bases, salary increases, and roster improvements for pilots as well as cabin crew. A flexible roster offers a minimum of 11 days off per month, with two blocks of four days in a row. Captains and Senior First Officers joining airBaltic will receive a sign-up bonus of EUR 15,000 and EUR 10,000, respectively.

     But let’s hear more from Gerhard Ramcke, who has spent the past 20 years at airBaltic and has seen the company grow, with more and more pilots joining the airline. He himself started out as a first officer on Boeing 737 aircraft with an initial plan to stay in Riga for only six months.

What is your background? I know you had a very different career path before you started flying.

Yes, I worked in sports marketing, but I always wanted to become a pilot, and I never lost a connection with flying. At the beginning, it felt like there was one crisis after another in the airline industry, and I couldn’t really pursue my dream to become a commercial airline pilot.

     Instead, I got hung up in sports marketing, and it was great, it was a good time. I flew small planes on the side, and then later I had an opportunity to do a type rating course on Boeing 737 aircraft in Berlin, which I took. airBaltic was looking for additional pilots, and I was invited over to Riga for an assessment. I succeeded, came here in March, and found that Riga is great place; summers here are especially beautiful, and airBaltic had some great potential. And, well, the time I’ve been here has quickly added up to about 20 years now (laughs).

You’re now in the position of Chief Pilot.

All of that happened rather fast. Just a few years after I joined the airline, airBaltic implemented a new aircraft type, the Bombardier Dash Q400 turbo prop, and I volunteered for it. There weren’t that many senior guys who wanted to fly turbo props, viewing it as a step backward in their professional development, but I volunteered and became the Type Chief Pilot. Then at some point the position developed into Chief Pilot.

What do you like about the administrative side of this job?

I do like leading people, and I see it as an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives – professionally and also privately. Because my division can help people adjust, take care of people who have to take a bit of time off due to, let’s say, a private issue, whatever it might be. You can lead strictly – this is your duty plan, and either you work here, or you don’t – or we can take a more personal route, and that’s very important to me.

     Twenty years ago, this was a very different company. Although it had developed out of the Soviet era, it was not established in Soviet times, and I saw a lot of potential here and thought that I could participate in making a difference.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?

First of all, the flying itself.

Do you still fly?

Oh, sure! Three days a week in the busy summer season, and I really enjoy that. Flying is entirely rewarding – everything, all of it. Mastering the machine, the task itself, just simply looking at the pure beauty of nature from above, sunrises and sunsets – you name it. I’m not a hopeless romantic, but there’s surely a little bit of romance in the job (laughs).

There are many first officers joining the airline now, graduates of airBaltic’s Pilot Academy. Have you been involved with the academy as well?

Yes, I’ve participated in the selection of students. At the end of the entire selection process, they have to do management interviews, which I conduct. We see them as future pilots for the airline, so the Pilot Academy is something very, very important to us when it comes to a pilot community.

     Twenty years ago, the local community didn’t really have much of an opportunity to pick up a pilot job. Almost none of the young people could afford a pilot education, the finances were very difficult. But we’re keen to hire local pilots, because they tend to stay a lot longer; they also understand the connection the airline has to the state, to the local community, and to society in general.

What do you look for when interviewing potential students?

Piloting can be very… I don’t want to use the word ‘boring’, you shouldn’t write that (laughs)… but it’s a row of repetitive actions. At the same time, every single flight is different, because you have to consider weather and runway conditions and many other factors. This is exactly that we’re looking for – people who recognise the differences and challenges these circumstances bring every single day, people who are keen to have a routine on the one hand, but who recognise the challenges of that routine.

airBaltic is now looking for more captains due to its expanding fleet.

Ideally, we’d like to have captains who have grown into the captaincy within our own organisation. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible. We’ve got so many new aircraft coming in and we have some substantial growth ahead of us, so we need to have new employees coming in directly. This can be challenging, because many of them are already very settled in their ability to command. That requires that a specific selection process be in place, which we have.

     We like nice (smiles). And liking nice means that you’re going to have a great environment on board. You spend many hours on a flight deck with your colleagues, so the environment needs to be super professional, but it also needs to be nice. It’s very important that you get along with each other. Captains lead the flight; in fact, they lead an entire mission, because a flight can be seen as a mission, there’s just so much to know and be aware of! Besides the technical side of it, a captain needs to have a sufficient level of experience and an ability to lead people – it’s not only his team, but there are also 150 people in the back as well.

Has the application process for the captain position already begun?

Yes, and we’re getting applications, but in general the market is very tight. Employment for pilots is very good at the moment, and we’re keen to attract people who want some change – for example, to go from a very ordinary airline to airBaltic, which is definitely a top-notch airline and has a strong brand in the industry.

     We have a single aircraft fleet, and the Airbus A220-300 is very exciting to fly, but we’ve also got an exceptional route network. Overall, if you take all the airports together, we fly to about 120 different airports. On top of that, we have a crew planning system that includes bidding, so you can bid for certain destinations or for very specific flights on a specific day.

airBaltic flies for other airlines as well, such as the SAS and Lufthansa groups with bases in other countries. This business line is very important for airBaltic.

Absolutely. Of course, local pilots are more interested in flying from Riga, but for most of our colleagues who come from other countries, it really doesn’t matter, because their home is just a short flight or even car ride away from our other bases. For example, when they fly for Swiss, they can check out in Zurich and go straight home.

     We’re advancing our scheduling in such a way that we first recognise that people want to be in certain places. Also, we’re introducing bases. On November 1, we’re opening permanent bases in Tallinn and Vilnius, which means that Estonians and Lithuanians can work from there, if they so wish. We will open temporary bases for the support functions that we offer to other airlines we fly for – the SAS or Lufthansa groups. We’ll also open seasonal bases in Munich, Vienna, and Brussels. That might change from year to year, but it’s nevertheless attractive if you’d like to be based there.

     Overall, we have a great package, including the features I already mentioned. But it’s also the care we provide to people. With some airlines, you don’t even reach anybody; you get your schedule via e-mail, and that’s it. That’s one thing we do in a very different way. It’s very important that the humans are really at the centre of our attention. That applies not only in terms of our passengers but also in terms of our flight crews.

And you will be their boss?

Yes, and I will be their boss (laughs).

5 things that characterise Gerhard Ramcke’s day

Morning routines: My day may start in two different ways, depending on whether I’m doing an early morning flight or office duties. In both cases, coffee is always a part of it. Another part of my morning routine, no matter if I’m going to fly or not, is doing a quick check on emails and messages for irregularities or issues that require a quick response. And then, if I’m not flying, I can help my 11-year-old son start his day as well.

Flights: I fly about two, three times per week. It’s important to retain that insight into the flying routine of the pilots.  Catching the sunrise on an early rotation is magic, especially during the dark and grey periods of the year. There are also normally no delays in the morning due to the weather or crowded airspace over central Europe. Afternoon and evening flights, however, have the advantage that I can get my office duties done during standard working hours.

Office: My office time is dominated by two main tasks. One is making sure that the pilots have everything they need to perform their flights as safely and efficiently as possible and with the required level of care and comfort for their passengers. The other focus is on the performance and development of the pilots themselves. Again, care and support are at the centre of the toolbox. And I have a great team and office providing full support not only for me but for our entire pilot community.

Training: Besides having to undergo regular training myself, just like every commercial pilot, I participate in various other trainings provided to our pilots. We’re proud of conducting nearly all of our training in house and that our training programmes are designed and recognised at the highest industry standards.

On the side: Exchanging information and experience with other departments is important, and even exchanging with other airlines is done regularly. We might be competitors, but we all have a common goal: utmost safety for each and every flight.