For Viktorija Salajeva, SmartLynx Airlines Lawyer, aviation has always been close to her heart. She was even planning to become a cabin crew after high school, but life has made its adjustments and shifted her career path.

Already working in a Law office for 4 years, the next step was to become attorney-at-law, but…“I had a feeling that it is not quite what I want to do in my life. It was an accidental acquaintance in a car service station that brought me to the world of aviation and this is where I belong. I’ve been with SmartLynx for more than 3 years now.”

An ACMI airline is a specific business model. Arrangement is made exclusively between two airlines, but, as Viktorija explains, that the role of a Legal team and its core functions is the same for all companies, regardless of the industry.

“I believe the core function of legal team is to support other departments by providing legal advice and guidance. During the company's everyday life, there are a lot of issues which require our attention. Our main tasks are transaction support, legal review and analysis of contracts and related documents generated by other departments, preparation and circulation of resolutions, letters, responses, memos and other routine legal documents, litigation (claim and defence work), research and evaluation of legal acts and court practice, cooperation with authorities, clients, partners, assistance and/or representation of the company in negotiations or disputes, managing client and supplier KYC process.

I, personally, am responsible also for personal data protection related questions.”

Since recently, Viktoria has an additional function of an Internal Ambassador. The project was launched to strengthen the communication lines both between employees and SmartLynx board, and between the departments.

“It’s not a secret that effective communication between team members is at the heart of productive teamwork. When people seek to understand each other's needs, concerns and challenges, it’s much easier to achieve common goals. And vice versa, when team members fail to communicate effectively, it may lead to confusion or even a conflict, which results in missed deadlines, arguments and ruined day for everyone involved.

So, the main task of me as an ambassador is to represent the interests of the Administration department before the board (by participating in meetings with the board, gathering information from the colleagues and bringing it to the board for review etc.) and being the main point of contact. The project has just started, but I sincerely hope that it will help all of us to become even better team.”