Post by Katarina Halabrin

LinkedIn algorithms have been trying to introduce me to Nikol Š. for months. At first, I thought, "Interesting... that surname sounds Slovak." Being half Slovak (and having spent a big part of my life there), I immediately felt a tiny spark of national pride. 🇸🇰 Then another thought crossed my mind... "Wait... in almost 4 years in aviation, have I really met only THREE Slovak pilots?" Either Slovaks are incredibly good at hiding in plain sight, or we seriously need to export more pilots. 😄 When Nikol agreed to an interview, my first brilliant idea was: "Let's make it about Slovakia!" Nikol politely replied: "I'd rather talk about being a pilot." Fair enough. Then we laughed about another stereotype—that Slovaks aren't exactly Olympic champions at celebrating each other's success. Whether that's true or not... I'll let the comments decide. 😅 But that conversation made me realize something. Maybe we've reached the point where "female pilot" shouldn't be the headline anymore. Maybe one day "Slovak pilot" won't need to be either. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞: 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭. Because airplanes have never cared about passports. Or gender. Or surnames. They care whether you know what you're doing. And so do passengers. I genuinely hope aviation becomes more visible in Slovakia. 𝐖𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲—𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 & 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟𝐬... 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. Now imagine if we became just as well known for producing exceptional pilots. That would be a stereotype I'd happily support. And who knows... Maybe somewhere in Slovakia there's a teenager scrolling LinkedIn, convinced aviation is only for "other people." Hopefully, after reading Nikol's story, they'll realize the flight deck has never been reserved for someone else. It has always been waiting for people willing to work hard enough to earn their seat.