As part of the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the civil aviation of Russia, JSC UVT Aero held a solemn meeting with the participation of veterans of the aviation industry on February 16, 2018.
The general director of UVT Aero Petr Trubaev congratulated the participants of the meeting on the professional holiday. In a warm atmosphere he cordially congratulated all guests on the professional holiday, thanked them for many years of work, told about how the airline operates today and what are the prospects of the company's development. For conscientious work in civil aviation veterans were awarded with commemorative badges "95 years of civil aviation".
The participants of the event were pilots, navigators, flight attendants, engineers, air mechanics, and ground service specialists. They devoted their lives to conquest of the sky, aircraft operation, and passenger transportation. Thousands of people entrusted their lives to them when boarding an aircraft.
The aircraft commander Nikolai Kotov devoted 27 years to the sky. Of them he operated AN-2 10 years, and Yak-40 – 17 years. He has 16,505 flight hours, or one year and ten months of continuous flight. "Now I'm replaced by my son, Sergey Kotov, the aircraft commander in UVT Aero and daughter Elena Veselova, the chief of the flight attendant service of the airline," he noted with pride.
Veteran engineer Viktor Lychagin came to aviation on April 12, 1971 – on the day of Cosmonautics. "Those days, just like now, aviation and space were highly regarded. He started from working as an air mechanic, then became an engineer, and dedicated 43 years to the maintenance of aviation equipment. Each of them has a huge experience under belt. There were different curious cases in our work, but we always overcame any difficulties. We loved our work infinitely, and still miss it," the veteran engineer said.
During the conversation, the veterans discussed with the airline management a wide range of topics related to the economic and social aspects of the aviation industry of the republic. The issues of legal regulation, education of personnel, as well as social and labour relations in the industry were touched upon. The importance of attracting young specialists to aviation was noted.
The Rastorguev family stressed the importance of a conscious choice of profession. Alexander and Nadezhda Rastorguev met in 1971, created a family, and dedicated their life to aviation. "For all my conscious life I did what I loved, and I was paid money for it. I was a pilot for 35 years. There was no doubt when I chose a profession. I, my father, brother, and son chose the sky, and grandchildren are interested in this calling too," Alexander Rastorguev said. "Gathering all together, we remember our working days. Of course, now we are all concerned about our aviation industry. But we look at the future optimistically. Thank you for the organized warm and friendly meeting," Nadezhda Rastorguyeva thanked.
It was obvious that, even although the veterans who came to the meeting are on a well-deserved rest, but the future of aviation remains for them one of the biggest points of interest.
During the meeting for the veterans of the aviation industry a tour was organized on the airline's facilities in Bugulma. The management of UVT Aero told about the changes and innovations in the airline, its current state and prospects of development. Veterans, who made a huge contribution to the development of the airline, asked questions about the state of the aircraft fleet, about work of young pilots and aircraft technicians who joined the team. In their turn, veterans told how they live today, about their hobbies, and plans for the near future.
Dear veterans! Your knowledge and experience cannot be overemphasized. Our gratitude to each of you is immeasurable, because it's you who have laid the backbone of air-technical base of aviation which we are so proud of today. We wish you, our dear veterans, and your relatives good health, prosperity, enthusiasm and long life.