- Document
- GOV-08
- Revision
- 1.7
- Effective
- 2 September 2026
- Issued
Human Resources and Organization
Revision: 1.7 Effective: 2 September 2026
Governance and Management
The Airline is governed by a Board of Directors and managed by a Chief Executive Officer, who is the Accountable Manager. The Board sets direction and holds the Chief Executive Officer to account. The Chief Executive Officer runs the Airline and holds, personally and without delegation, the corporate authority required by the Airline's civil aviation authority for the conduct of the operation.
The Chief Operating Officer holds the operating directorates, being Flight Operations, Ground Operations, and Engineering and Maintenance, and runs the day to day operation. This arrangement exists because the Chief Executive Officer's work at this stage is substantially external, being the civil aviation authority, bilateral air service negotiation, lessors and government, and the operation cannot wait on that officer's availability. Safety, Quality and Security does not fall under the Chief Operating Officer and reports to the Chief Executive Officer directly.
The composition of the Board, the appointment and removal of its members, and the shareholding behind it are matters of ownership and are set out in Finance and Ownership Structure, GOV-06. This document governs what the Board and the executive do, not who they are.
Reserved Matters
The following are reserved to the Board and are not within the authority of the Chief Executive Officer.
- The Airline's strategy, annual business plan and annual budget.
- Any commitment to acquire, lease or dispose of an aircraft, and any change to the composition of the fleet.
- The opening or closure of a base, and the establishment of a second crew domicile.
- The opening of a new country in the network, and the withdrawal from one served.
- Borrowing, capital raising, and any transaction outside the approved budget above the thresholds set in Finance and Ownership Structure, GOV-06.
- The appointment and removal of the Chief Executive Officer, and of the chief officers and directors sitting on the Executive Committee.
- Adoption of and material amendment to the flight time and duty limitations, the safety management system, and this document.
- Alliance membership, code share agreements, and any arrangement placing the Airline's aircraft or crews under another carrier's commercial control. Everything not reserved above is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, who may sub-delegate to a chief officer or director in writing. Monetary thresholds attaching to that delegation are set in Finance and Ownership Structure, GOV-06.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is the Airline's standing management body. It comprises the Chief Executive Officer, who chairs it, the chief officers, and the directors, including the three who report through the Chief Operating Officer. It meets monthly, and it holds a weekly operating review covering the previous week's schedule integrity, safety reports, and commercial performance.
| Post | Reports to | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive Officer | Board | Accountable Manager. The operation as a whole, and the Airline's relationship with its civil aviation authority, its government and its Board |
| Chief Operating Officer | Chief Executive Officer | The operating directorates, schedule delivery, and operational performance |
| Chief Commercial Officer | Chief Executive Officer | Network planning, pricing and revenue management, sales, distribution, and customer service |
| Chief Financial Officer | Chief Executive Officer | Finance, procurement, legal, insurance, and administration |
| Chief Technology Officer | Chief Executive Officer | Reservations and departure control systems, digital sales channels, crew and operations systems, data, and information security |
| Director of Safety, Quality and Security | Chief Executive Officer | Safety management, compliance monitoring, quality assurance, and aviation security |
| Director of Human Resources | Chief Executive Officer | Recruitment, employment terms, training administration, and organizational development |
| Director of Flight Operations | Chief Operating Officer | Flight and cabin crew, operations control, rostering, dispatch, and crew training |
| Director of Ground Operations | Chief Operating Officer | Stations, contracted handling agents, cargo, and turnaround performance |
| Director of Engineering and Maintenance | Chief Operating Officer | Continuing airworthiness, contracted maintenance providers, and line maintenance at base |
Aviation security sits with Safety, Quality and Security and information security sits with the Chief Technology Officer. Where a matter is both, it is handled jointly and reported to the Safety Review Board.
Flight Operations Management
Each aircraft type carries a chief pilot, who holds flying standards, operating procedures and the line pilots on that type, and who reports to the Director of Flight Operations.
| Post | Scope |
|---|---|
| Chief Pilot, E-Jet Fleet | The E175 and E195, including differences standards between the two variants |
| Chief Pilot, DHC-6 Fleet | The DHC-6 Series 400 |
| Manager, Cabin Crew | The single cabin crew pool across both E-Jet variants |
| Training Captains and Type Rating Examiners | Line training, line checks and proficiency checks, under the Nominated Person, Crew Training |
These are line-flying posts. Their holders operate the schedule as part of the crew establishment and are not additional to it, so the posts carry authority rather than headcount. A chief pilot is not a nominated postholder by virtue of the post, and holds one only where separately appointed and accepted by the civil aviation authority.
Committees
| Committee | Chair | Frequency | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety Review Board | Chief Executive Officer | Quarterly | Safety performance, safety objectives, and the resourcing of safety actions |
| Safety Action Group | Director of Safety, Quality and Security | Monthly | Hazard identification, occurrence review, and delivery of safety actions |
| Network and Fleet Committee | Chief Commercial Officer | Quarterly | Schedule, route performance, and fleet assignment ahead of each season |
| Audit and Risk Committee | A Board member who holds no executive post | Semi-annually | Financial and compliance audit, and the Airline's risk register |
Deputies and Continuity
Each director names a deputy who acts in that director's absence. Each nominated postholder names an alternate acceptable to the civil aviation authority, and no operation is conducted while a postholder position is vacant and unfilled by an accepted alternate.
Two authorities sit outside the management chain and are not subject to it. The pilot in command holds final authority over the aircraft and its disposition. The duty operations controller holds authority on the day of operation to delay, cancel, divert or reassign a flight, and exercises it without seeking approval, reporting the decision afterwards.
Organizational Structure
The Airline is organized as a single-base carrier under the Chief Executive Officer, in eight directorates, each aligned to a governance area of the Charter. Three of them report through the Chief Operating Officer and the remainder report to the Chief Executive Officer.
- Flight Operations. Flight crew, cabin crew, operations control, crew rostering, and flight dispatch.
- Engineering and Maintenance. Continuing airworthiness management, oversight of contracted maintenance providers, and line maintenance at base.
- Ground Operations. Station management, oversight of contracted handling agents, cargo, and turnaround performance.
- Commercial. Network planning, pricing and revenue management, sales, distribution, and customer service.
- Finance and Administration. Finance, procurement, legal, and insurance.
- Technology and Digital. Reservations and departure control systems, the booking channel, crew and operations systems, data, and information security.
- Safety, Quality and Security. Safety management, compliance monitoring, quality assurance, and aviation security.
- Human Resources. Recruitment, employment terms, training administration, and organizational development. Safety, Quality and Security reports to the Chief Executive Officer directly and independently of the operating directorates, and holds unrestricted access to the Board.
Nominated Postholders
The following posts are held by named individuals and are the persons through whom the Airline discharges its obligations to its civil aviation authority. No individual holds more than one post except where that authority approves a combination in writing.
| Post | Directorate |
|---|---|
| Accountable Manager | Executive |
| Nominated Person, Flight Operations | Flight Operations |
| Nominated Person, Crew Training | Flight Operations |
| Nominated Person, Ground Operations | Ground Operations |
| Nominated Person, Continuing Airworthiness | Engineering and Maintenance |
| Safety Manager | Safety, Quality and Security |
| Compliance Monitoring Manager | Safety, Quality and Security |
| Security Manager | Safety, Quality and Security |
Establishment
The Airline's establishment at launch is 300 positions against a fleet of eight aircraft.
Crew establishment is 147 positions, published in Fleet and Operations, GOV-02, under Crew Complement, and derived from the published timetable and the Airline's flight time and duty limitations. It is not restated here and it moves only when the duty count moves.
| Group | Positions |
|---|---|
| Flight and cabin crew | 147 |
| Flight Operations, ground staff | 24 |
| Engineering and Maintenance | 16 |
| Ground Operations | 18 |
| Commercial | 22 |
| Customer service and contact centre | 20 |
| Finance and Administration | 14 |
| Technology and Digital | 10 |
| Safety, Quality and Security | 8 |
| Human Resources | 9 |
| Executive and support | 12 |
| Total | 300 |
Aircraft maintenance and airport ground handling are contracted. The positions above cover the Airline's management and oversight of those contracts and not the contractors' own staff.
Recruitment
The Airline recruits in three streams, in order of preference.
- Diaspora recruitment. Qualified Circassian and Abkhazian nationals holding current licences and type ratings with carriers abroad. This is the Airline's first source for flight crew, cabin crew and management positions. It answers the Airline's mission directly, in that the homeland carrier is staffed by the people the homeland lost.
- Home market recruitment. Residents of Circassia and Abkhazia, for every position that does not require a licence held before employment, and for licensed positions as the national pipeline matures.
- Contract recruitment. Expatriate flight crew and specialists on fixed-term contracts, used only where the first two streams cannot fill a position. Each such contract carries a named national understudy. Contract recruitment is transitional. Every fixed-term expatriate contract is reviewed at renewal against the availability of a diaspora or home market candidate.
Training and Licensing
No simulator for any type the Airline operates is located in its home markets. Type rating, recurrent simulator training and licence proficiency checks are contracted to approved training organizations abroad, on both the DHC-6 and the E-Jet pair.
The Airline conducts at base the training that does not require a simulator: induction, company procedures, crew resource management, safety and emergency procedures, dangerous goods, aviation security, and cabin service standards.
Pilots hold one of two type ratings, DHC-6 or the E-Jet pair with differences training between the E175 and the E195. Cabin crew qualify on both E-Jet variants and form a single pool.
The Airline establishes its own approved training organization, including an ab initio cadet programme drawing on both home markets, when two conditions are met: the civil aviation authority of Circassia and Abkhazia is established and able to approve it, and the fleet is committed to expand beyond eight aircraft. Until both are met, training is contracted and the cadet programme is not opened.
Language
Adyghe and Abkhaz are the Airline's national languages. Corporate communication, brand expression and public-facing service are conducted in them.
English is the Airline's operational language. Flight operations, technical documentation, maintenance records and radiotelephony are conducted in English. Flight crew hold ICAO Language Proficiency at Level 4 or above, and Level 5 is the recruitment standard.
Cabin crew qualify in Adyghe or Abkhaz and in English. Every jet rotation carries at least one cabin crew member competent in the principal language of the destination served, being Russian on the Russia trunk tier, Turkish on Turkish routes and Arabic on Middle East routes. Onboard announcements are made in Adyghe or Abkhaz, in English, and in the principal language of the destination.
Employment Terms
Sochi is the Airline's only crew domicile. Every crew member is employed on a Sochi basing. A layover point carries accommodation and no employment consequence.
Crew rosters are published against the flight time, flight duty period and rest limitations in Fleet and Operations, GOV-02, which include seven local days free of all duty in each calendar month. No roster is published that those limitations do not permit.
Employment contracts are governed by the law of Circassia and Abkhazia.
Conduct
Khabze and Apsuara govern conduct within the Airline as they govern conduct toward its guests. Personal honour, restraint, respect for elders and for the person in front of you, and obligation to the community are the standards against which employee conduct is measured, and they are written into the terms of employment rather than left to culture.
The Airline operates a just culture. Its governing statement is in Regulatory and Safety, GOV-07, under Occurrence Reporting and Just Culture, and the protection it establishes is a term of every contract of employment. An employee who reports under it is not subject to disciplinary action arising from that report, within the limits GOV-07 sets.
Discrimination in recruitment, employment or advancement on grounds of ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex or age is prohibited. The preference for diaspora and home market candidates set out under Recruitment is a national development measure applied to sourcing, and it does not qualify this prohibition in the treatment of employees.