Aditya Palnitkar

Friday's Fabulous Flyer

Aditya Palnitkar

Future Airline Owner 

  

15-year-old Aditya was born in Mountain View California and currently lives in Pune India (Two and a half hours from Mumbai) with his mother, father and younger brother. His 14-year-old brother doesn't have the same interest in aviation as Aditya.  But big brother is working on him. Aditya said, "I am always in the process of trying to make him appreciate the fascinating world of aviation."

Wait... did I tell you he wrote a book? Yes, at 15-years-old this young man has a published book: Amazing Airlines. When I told him I added it to my Amazon list to buy, he said, "I will send out a complimentary review copy to you, it's the least I can do since you will be taking the trouble of writing the review." Not only is he talented, motivated and a go getter... but gracious too! 

My book arrived two days ago, and I have yet to read it, but I needed to give a shout out to the author. I love meeting inspiring young people! And to achieve such an undertaking at 15 is nothing short of amazing.

Aditya Falls in Love with Aviation:

My love of aviation comes from some ineffable, hard-wired affinity that I realized when I was just seven years old. The year was 2003, and I was on a plane flying from San Francisco to Mumbai, India. Instead of watching cartoons, I was tracking the airplane’s flight path and looking out the window at the clouds, fascinated by how high we were soaring in the sky. It was an amazing experience, and I fell in love with aviation.

Inspiration for Amazing Airlines:

On each trip I have taken, I have always talked to the pilots and the crew about our common interest in aviation. In 2010, during a conversation with a flight crew in Spain, they mentioned how great it would be if everyone my age could understand aviation. At this point, I realized that the language and structure of most aviation books I had read was difficult for young people to understand. I felt that an airline book written in a simple language had the potential to inspire interest among teenagers and young adults. Since a book like this did not exist, I decided to write one.

Aditya Travels the World:

My parents’ love for travel has provided me with the opportunity to fly extensively. To date, my journeys have spanned 33 different countries across 5 continents on 21 airlines. Over the years, the countries I have visited or flown through worldwide including the United States, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, India, Egypt, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, U.A.E, Qatar, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Malaysia.

Master of Language:

(I asked Aditya how many languages he spoke due to his travels. Why doesn't his answer surprise me?)

I speak English, Marathi (my mother tongue), and Hindi fluently. I can write proper German, as well as make and understand basic conversations in spoken German. I can write the Cyrillic (Russian) and the Greek scripts fluently.

Future of Success: 

The airline world also involves many things that books can’t cover. There’s a heart and soul to every place and community, which traveling lets you experience. I have realized that while distant cultures may seem different, they are similar where it matters. The farmers’ market in Paris has the same commotion as the one in Seattle.

Whether it is Stockholm, Casablanca or Tokyo, parks are full of mothers lovingly walking their kids in strollers. I find it wonderful that the only thing separating people is not race, religion or nationality, just distance.

My dream is to start my own commercial airline and use aviation to link these distant populations. This is my goal, and I hope that my dream of a more connected world will ignite a union among people across the globe.

All Aditya's dreams will come true! I hope he tells us when he's accepting applications for employment at his airline.

I definitely see a new airline around the corner. Let's give Aditya ideas on a name. What do you think? Please take a moment to encourage Aditya and wish him the best of luck. And remember to check out his book: Amazing Airlines.  

Enjoy the journey!

XOX Karlene