Türk Hava Yolları – İz Bırakanlar: Ercan Akçay

Türk Hava Yolları – İz Bırakanlar: Ercan Akçay

When I was a kid, I had lambs in my hometown. I used to take them out for grazing. In those days, I remember, I loved watching airplanes. We used to call them
“planes with trails”. I used to ask my late granny. “Granny,
people are flying these planes, right?” She would say,
“Yes, people are flying them, son.” Every time I looked up to the sky,
I used to tell myself, “I hope I may find
the chance to work with them one day.” THOSE WHO LEAVE THEIR MARKS I’m Ercan Akçay.
I’ve worked at Turkish Airlines as a Protocol Photographer for 20 years. Actually, everything began
on these streets. I started my job in Beyoğlu
as a photographer. In my young years, after
my military service, when I came back, I said I can open a shop.
I did that. Sadly, all around Istanbul,
150 shops had been robbed… …so I ended up jobless. At that time, a manager from Turkish Airlines called me. He said,
“We’ll be needing some photography work soon.” I said, “I am sorry,
I won’t be able to help at this time.” He said, “Alright” and wished me the best.
We hung up the phone. A week later, they called again and asked,
“What’s up, what did you do?” I said, “Well, I lost everything.” Then he said,
“Let’s hire you at Turkish Airlines” TURKISH AIRLINES
GENERAL MANAGEMENT BUILDING – YEŞİLKÖY I got there.
He called me for a meeting. Everyone was brainstorming,
asking each other, “What does Turkish Airlines need to do?” “Ercan, what do you say?
What is it that THY need to do?” I asked,
“Does Turkish Airlines have an archive?” They replied,
“Of course, bring the photographs.” “Than i said ”Sir, I meant a digital archive.” The answer was “No”.
This digital archive story started on the first day
when I got there. This is Turkish Airlines’ general archive department. I’ve spent around six months in this archive department, While goind through
the archives one day, I stumbled upon a document
hand-signed by Atatürk. It began with the words “To State Airports…” It was the founding
document of Turkish Airlines. It was as if I found gold. Then I recorded the document and
sent it to our manager. He asked, “Ercan, where did you
find this?” “Sir, it was in the archives.” That was thrilling for everyone. Then the document was sent
to the Chairman of the Board. Later, it was featured in the book. It was an unbelievable experience for me. The Turkish Airlines archive is the greatest memory of
the Turkish Aviation. When I first started working at
Turkish Airlines in 2005, they were called
“Boutique” Airlines. However, our executives had such strong ideals at the time that even back in 2005, they were already talking about goals for 2023. When I started working
at Turkish Airlines, there were talks about sponsors. These sponsorships began
with Kevin Costner. Then came the likes of Kobe, Messi, and more.. I had the privilege of photographing these people and it’s all thanks to Turkish Airlines. After the opening of the St. Petersburg
flight route we started to going to
a new one every week. We climbed the ranks quickly, going from tens of flight routes
to hundreds today. When I first came to Turkish Airlines,
they had 50 or 60 planes of their own. Today, they’ve reached 400 planes. This is our Mogadishu route opening. This was before the opening. We had delivered humanitarian aid there. Our manager offered a kid some chocolate. The kid had
no energy to even chew it. Our manager was crying. I remember crying
while taking this photo. This is one of the photographs
that really touches me. In fact,
wherever Turkish Airlines flew, it carried Türkiye and the Turkish Airlines flag with it. Everywhere we went,
Turkish Airlines represented Türkiye. STAFF TERMINAL We carried Türkiye’s compassionate heart to the entire world. I was 18 years old
when I first saw an airplane. I joined Turkish Airlines without
ever having traveled abroad before. I traveled the whole world. I have been to every country. I flew over 300 times. Even if this were a dream,
people would say, you’re exaggerating.” Turkish Airlines is truly a pinnacle for dreams. Whenever I was at a location
for a flight route opening, I always tried to take photos,
of different parts of the city. Every photo I’ve taken
has a memory. Thanks to my managers, I was able to open a photography exhibition. That truly made me very happy.
I grateful to them all. This photograph was taken… in 2009 or 2010. We were returning
from Los Angeles flight route opening. We were in the German airspace. The Turkish Airlines aircraft
was flying below us… -Mr. Ercan.
…I saw it and… -Good day.
-Good day. -How are you? Are you alright?
-I am fine, thank you. And you? I am fine, thank you so much. Like this photograph of a
plane with trails… CAPTAIN PILOT
TURKISH AIRLINES …for the past 20 years
you’ve left countless memories for the Turkish
Airlines family. -Thank you so much for that.
-I thank you all. This “plane with trail” was your childhood memory and
as its captain pilot, I’d like to give you this. As the Turkish Airlines family,
we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I thank you,
you really made me… Anytime I took the photo, I had Türkiye on my mind as I pressed
the shutter button. So, yes, it is time to say farewell
to my family of the last twenty years. They have brought me so much joy and taught me all about life. Today, I am graduating
from this school. As I always say… “May God protect this company.”

Her kare, geçmişe açılan bir pencere! 92 yıllık yolculuğumuzda iz bırakan çalışanları anlattığımız belgesel serimizin yeni bölümünde, çektiği fotoğraflarla Türk Hava Yolları’nın son 20 yılda yakaladığı yükselişin en yakın şahitlerinden Ercan Akçay’ın hikayesini izliyoruz.