Zbigniew, 54, who studied maths, grew up and now lives in the French-speaking part of Switzer-land. So how does an academic come to find himself sitting at the controls of a passenger aircraft rather than lecturing at university? The fascination with flying took hold years ago, when he was a child. “After school I used to cycle over to Geneva airport to watch the aircraft take off and land”, explains Zbig. Years later, he fulfilled his dream of flying an aircraft himself.

When not taking off for New York from his home base in Geneva, he commutes between French-speaking Switzerland and Zurich to fly other long-haul assignments three or four times a month. In his additional role as a PR pilot he is also called on to fly some very special missions: on one occasion last year, for example, he flew the Swiss national football squad to their European Championship venue. In his spare time he participates in fear-of-flying seminars and when abroad he enjoys spending time at airports collecting aircraft registrations which he then records meticulously in his notebook!

Text: Reto Hoffmann
Photos: Sabina Diethelm