World Pilots' Day

 

World Pilots’ Day is celebrated each year on April 26. This Day recognizes the many contributions of pilots who safely connect millions of passengers around the world every year. It can trace its origins back to 1912 when a young Turkish pilot named Fesa Evrensev took to the skies for the first time. According to Turkish sources, Evrensev flew missions during the 1912-1913 First Balkan War when the combined armies of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro took back 82% of their occupied lands from the Ottoman Turks. Twenty years later, in 1933, Evrensev became the first president of the Turkish national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines.

In 2013, prompted by the Turkish Airlines Pilots Association, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) concluded it was high time that a day was set aside to celebrate pilots Because Turkish pilots initiated this idea, the anniversary of Fesa Evrensev's first flight was chosen.