She didn’t step into the kitchen with a clear goal or dream in mind. Halyna says baking was never her passion in the romantic sense of the word — she saw it more as a basic skill. It wasn’t until she started baking for family and friends that she realized she was slowly falling into that world. “And then there was no way back,” she says with a smile.
And how did she come aboard Pilot Café? It was as if the café had found her itself. “The ad for a pastry chef at Pilot Café kept popping up for me, and eventually I thought, why not? I replied to the ad, came in for an interview, then for a trial shift. Before I even realized it, I’d become a pastry chef at Pilot,” she recalls.
Today, she’s a key member of the team, following her own flight schedule in the kitchen. Every day, she changes into her uniform, sanitizes her workspace, and gets to work. Her routine follows a steady rhythm: restock the display, check the cakes, plan the baking, prepare the bases, craft the desserts, restock again, and clean up. And even though it’s a routine, Halyna finds space within it for both creativity and calm.
When asked what she enjoys most about baking, she answers without hesitation: “In the art of pastry, there are no limits. There’s always room to grow. Even when you think you’ve mastered it, there’s always something new to learn.” So it’s no surprise she can’t pick just one dessert she’s most proud of. Each one has a special place in her heart — and a piece of herself inside.
She sees the greatest challenge in something invisible — reaching people’s hearts. “I want a dessert to make someone’s day better. Even just a little. I simply want them to leave happier than when they came,” she admits. And she’s certainly succeeding, especially with the passengers’ favorite treat — the caramel cheesecake. And why that one? “There’s beauty in simplicity,” she says calmly, as if speaking not only about the cake but also about her approach to work.
Throughout her career, she’s also had her share of funny moments caused by mistakes — like the time she forgot to add sugar to a cheesecake. Actually, to four of them at once. “It sounded like a disaster, but in the end, we liked it even without sugar. I adjusted the recipe, and since then, we’ve been making a lighter version,” she laughs.
When she’s not baking, she loves to go running — it helps her clear her mind and find new inspiration. She also spends time with her family, reads, and has a keen interest in astrology and numerology. If she had to choose one song to play every time she walked into the kitchen, it would be Get You The Moon (Kina ft. Snow). Quiet, gentle, yet strong — just like her.
Halyna may appear quiet and humble, but her work speaks for her — vividly and loudly. Through her desserts, she connects with our passengers in a way that makes landing here both a ritual and a little form of therapy.
