Pilot David Hecl: if I could choose my own crew, I'd choose only homosexuals for my team
The road to becoming a pilot is not easy. It's a long haul, a lot of diligence, patience, respect and countless hours in the classroom and on simulators. Pilot David Hecl spoke not only about this, but also about the workings of airlines, the jokes on board and the crew.
Is it difficult to become a transport aircraft pilot? What do you have to go through?
It's really very difficult. It starts with the fact that if an applicant wants to become a transport pilot, he or she must first go for medical examinations, which are done just for professional pilots. And that's the best place to start, because that's where you find out if it makes sense to continue. They may tell you that you have a medical disability that prevents you from becoming a pilot. So it starts with the fact that you have to have a certain quality of your own health. That's where it starts and ends. The other thing is that a pilot has to learn something new his whole career. Just as an airplane flies about a thousand miles an hour, so does the whole airline business. If a pilot can't keep up, he has no business being there. He has to keep learning for the rest of his life. Another very important part is English, you just can't do it without it.
What about studying?
I'm often asked by people interested in this field whether high school is enough for this profession. It's enough, but I also recommend college to everyone. Not for the reason that college will teach them everything, but for the reason that it will teach them the necessary foundation and responsibility. And the art of learning. If I were to summarize what you need to know to be successful in a future career as a pilot, it's college, medical fitness, English, and great never ending diligence. After that, one has a chance to become a transport pilot.
How much time does one have to devote to becoming a pilot?
From your decision to getting into the cockpit of a transport aircraft, the journey takes about three to five years. It's a full-time job and study. Hundreds of hours in the classroom, in simulators and in the plane. And nowadays, it's also a lot of money. Sometimes people get into the system who have the money but don't have a relationship with aircraft. Then on the other hand, there are applicants who would make great pilots but can't afford it. Sometimes I come across sad stories.
How much does the training cost?
It takes three to five years and it is several hundred thousand or rather millions of crowns.
What do you think should be the characteristics of such a pilot? What does a good pilot need to know?
Humility and respect is a basic attribute of a pilot. And not to be a sucker. That's not how aviation works. In order to be a pilot in the position of captain of say an A380, besides having knowledge, experience, being able to fly the aircraft, one has to be a good communicator. He must be a good leader and be able to make decisions that he will stand behind. If you can't make decisions, if you can't communicate and if you can't be a leader, you have no chance of getting to the captain position.
So is piloting for everyone?
Piloting as such, if we take it to mean putting our hands on the controls and flying the plane up and down, it is for everyone. There's nothing wrong with that, everybody can learn that. But if we're talking about being the captain of a transport aircraft that costs ten billion crowns, you have six hundred passengers on board and you're flying at high altitude, then piloting an aircraft is just one of the basic prerequisites for becoming a captain. But it is not the most important thing. The plane has an autopilot, and it can fly better than your hands. And the captain is the flight manager. He leads the team, communicates and makes decisions. And most importantly, he's a pro.
Can people sign up for flying lessons with you?
Yes, not actively now, but I used to teach in the covid. I have a valid instructor rating, at least for the small planes. So yes, I have recently renewed my rating. It's a thing I enjoy.
Let's get to your story. You are famous for being the first Czech to pilot an Airbus A380. How did you get that opportunity?
Well, there's a long story behind that. This aircraft became my big dream when I joined Emirates. First I started flying the Airbus A330, then the A340, and I thought that maybe one day I would even take a look at the Airbus A380. But at that time it wasn't quite certain. Anyway, the number of just A380s was increasing and conversely the number of A330s and A340s was starting to decrease. And that was good news. Suddenly I got an email that I was being reassigned to the A380 with information about when my training was starting. So I thought, well, it's nice that I can just look at the A380 for maybe a year or two, and I'll have that in my logbook. And then I'll go back to the A330 and A340 as a captain. Because that was the official procedure. And that's where I'll fly the rest of my career. But then the moment I got on the A380, Emirates decided that they didn't want to operate those two planes anymore. And that all of us who were first officers on the A380 would stay there. So this was the way to get on that beautiful A380.
You've worked for CSA, Emirates, and Korean Air - what's the difference in the way these companies operate? And what are the differences in the work of the crew?
They're three completely different companies. Each has its own thing. At CSA, everyone speaks the same language and is mostly of similar education and religion. At Korean Air, it's very similar. There are just a few extra foreigners. But at Emirates there are people from all over the world. When I was there, there were 85 nationalities among the pilots. It's the other way around. You don't have one language, culture or religion anymore. You've got a beautiful Babel of people from all over the world. And it's very challenging to operate in a crew like that. But Emirates is and always will be a selective company, and from a large pool of applicants they choose those who fit their philosophy. And so they will be an integral and essential part of this great machine.
Almost every time I've flown with a person I've never seen before. There were only a few flights where I flew with a colleague I already knew. Every time you came to work, you flew with someone from the other side of the world and didn't know them. And despite that, it worked out great, which is why flying with this company was perfect.
There was never a religious or cultural conflict, for example?
It hasn't, but you have to be prepared for it. I remember when we joined Emirates and we had a few days of ground training, one of the big topics was telling jokes. Because a joke that we tell in the Czech Republic might offend someone from the other side of the world. Luckily I'm good at this, I can't even tell jokes in Czech, let alone English. So it didn't bother me that I said something I shouldn't have.
There really weren't any conflicts between people because Emirates is all about cooperation and communication in the cabin crew.
In movies, we often see that being a pilot is a masculine profession. What's the truth in that?
You're probably right that it's ingrained in society. But I would like to mention that, for example, there are many ladies in the position of pilot or captain at Emirates. They don't really distinguish whether the pilot is a woman or a man. We even had a female instructor who ran one of my training sessions. So I met women really often. It's really open these days. And hats off to the women who go into that career. And to make it, they often have to know a lot more than the men.
What about gay men? Are they also pilots and in captain roles?
That's a very interesting question. There are a lot of homosexuals among the stewards. My answer to that is, and always has been, that I have the best experience with them. They're huge hard workers. They work honestly and reliably on board. Plus, they took very good care of us (laughs). And I've always said that if I could pick a crew, I'd pick all gay people. Because they were the best to fly with. Even though I'm of a different orientation myself, professionally they were always perfect for me.
I feel that when the heterosexuals flew as flight attendants, they didn't seem to be happy with their jobs. Maybe they weren't getting everything they wanted, they wanted to be pilots. And it often showed. But it was with the homosexuals that I felt that they were absolutely aligned with what they were doing, and they were doing it with love.
What are your plans for the future?
For us, the situation changes every day, like on the front lines. I'm very grateful for the job I have today. I fly to private jet here from Prague. However, the world is getting back to normal again, and with that comes my challenges. My heart is Emirates and the A380. So, if such an offer comes again, and I believe it might, then of course I wouldn't hesitate for a second and would go for it immediately.
