Stav Nemirovsky used pandemic to pilot new career path

For former El Al pilot Nemirovsky, there was never a question of whether to stay home collecting benefits or look for other work.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Stav Nemirovsky while working at El Al (photo credit: STAV NEMIROVSKY)
Stav Nemirovsky while working at El Al
(photo credit: STAV NEMIROVSKY)
El Al stopped flying when COVID-19 struck and sent its pilots on unpaid leave. Faced with such drastic change, some pilots switched to driving buses and others turned to agriculture. For former IAF jet-pilot and El Al First Officer Stav Nemirovsky, the pandemic was a shot at switching to a career path he always wanted to try: hi-tech.
“I took online courses at Coursera and Udemy when I was flying,” he told The Jerusalem Post, “so I wasn’t intimidated by code when I began seeking work in that field.”
This July, he began working in the Professional Services department at Guardicore, a cybersecurity company.
Pilots might have a romantic myth about them, but Nemirovsky is careful to point out that, even when he was flying F-16’s, “I was just the pendulum at the end of a complex system in which every part is important.”
He notes that while at El Al, his job enabled him to work with a variety of groups, from flight control personnel and air-crew members to airport authorities. “I learned to adjust myself to the teams I work with,” he told the Post. “I believe it’s vital to meet everyone at eye level.”
The job of a first officer is to work with the captain and share in the two major tasks of flying an aircraft, flying and monitoring. “The relationship is similar to what surgeons do,” he explained. “The captain is responsible for the flight, but both handle all aspects of it. Just like in surgery, the top surgeon is responsible for the operation, but he and his fellow surgeon work together.”
In Israel and worldwide, being a pilot is seen as a high-status profession. Some El Al pilots, of whom there were 690 in 2019, enjoy a higher salary than even the airline’s CEO, the company claimed in court. The Pilots Union responded that El Al is attempting to mislead the public and that while some pilots do earn such high salaries, a first officer earns an average of NIS 30,000 per month, which is NIS 16,000 after taxes, Calcalist reported in early August.
For Nemirovsky, there was never a question of whether to stay home collecting benefits or look for other work.
“I believe that anyone who can work should do so,” he told the Post. “This is setting a proper personal example of how a citizen should act in a society.”
“Besides,” he added, “I still fly for the IAF and train pilots, so it’s not like I never get to fly now.”
According to him, only a few dozen pilots made the move to hi-tech. “Others fall back on what they know,” he said. “Those who have legal training re-enter law; those who have a degree in architecture design houses.”
“The younger you are,” he said, “the easier it is to start anew. I decided to give this new path all I got.”


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