GIRL FROM STRIČIĆI BECOMES THE FIRST FEMALE CAPTAIN IN "AIR SERBIA" FLEET

Vanja Marčeta, the first female captain in the ATR fleet of "Air Serbia" and the first female pilot to achieve this title within the Serbian national airline, hails from Banja Luka and traces her origins to the famed village of Stričići on Zmijanje, known as the birthplace of the great Serbian writer Petar Kočić.

With an impressive career already behind her, Vanja Marčeta shares her story with "Glas." She inherited her flying genes from her father, also a pilot, originally from the Marčeta hamlet near Stričići.

From a young age, I had a strong desire to fly. When my father went to work, I wondered how he controlled the plane and what it was like to fly. This childhood curiosity grew into a passion and a desire for flying. Instead of becoming a military pilot, life led me to civil aviation, which I enjoy to this day, Marčeta said in her interview with "Glas." She added that, besides her father, she admired the Russian aviation heroine Svetlana Kapanina, whose aerobatic flights she loved watching as a child.

While flying causes anxiety and even panic in many people, for Marčeta, it brings happiness and the fulfillment of a dream. She first sat in the pilot's seat 11 years ago at the Pilot Academy in Vršac, handling the controls of a "Cessna 172."

It was a magnificent feeling, like I always belonged there. Flying is my great love, a source of joy and peace. It has never caused me any fear. I was a daring child, always seeking adrenaline and excitement. I loved amusement parks and told myself it was my training for becoming a military pilot. I had a "stomach for everything," Marčeta emphasized.

After finishing primary school, she wanted to enroll in the Military High School and follow her father's footsteps. However, due to his disagreement, she attended Zemun High School instead.

This did not extinguish my passion for flying. At 21, I enrolled in the Pilot Academy in Vršac, where I obtained my professional pilot's license. I refined my skills by training for a specific type of aircraft, the "Boeing 737," which got me my first job at "Air Serbia," Marčeta explained.

In 2022, she transitioned to the position of co-pilot on the ATR72 aircraft, where she remained until she was sent for captain training.

Becoming the first woman to achieve the title of captain within "Air Serbia" and the first female captain in the ATR fleet represents the pinnacle of my career and the culmination of years of effort, hard work, and self-belief. The journey to this position was filled with challenges, sacrifices, and personal growth. I believe that every profession requires certain sacrifices, and in that sense, my job is not much different from others, Marčeta said.

The profession of a pilot is very attractive, and Marčeta is delighted when she hears that a girl wants to follow her path.

I see my former self in each of them, and it is an immense pleasure and honor to be their role model. I am happy that through my example, girls who share a love for flying and aviation can see that dreams are achievable. In "Air Serbia's" cockpit, there are increasingly more women as captains and co-pilots. Besides me, there are eight other women in the flight crew of the Serbian national airline, and there is no place for discrimination in the cockpit. There is always mutual respect and support between colleagues, Marčeta stated.

According to Vanja, the difference between driving a car and flying a plane is enormous, and she prefers flying because, as she says, there are no traffic lights in the sky.

One interesting feature of the type of aircraft I fly is that I can reverse it while on the ground. Other aircraft wait for a special vehicle to push them onto the airport surface, but I can do it with the ATR without any help, Marčeta explained.

Reflecting on the downsides of her profession, Marčeta mentioned that constant traveling, often at night, disrupts her sleep and sometimes forces her to miss family gatherings and social events with friends, which they do not hold against her.

Throughout her life and pilot career, Vanja Marčeta has experienced many amusing situations, particularly involving flirtatious encounters from men.

There have been instances where some guys pretended to be pilots to impress me, not knowing my profession. It always ended comically, Marčeta recalled.