Inspire-Ability

In Part 2, Paul and David share how their mother ensured that they remained grounded throughout the peaks and troughs of their career paths. With twists and turns, we find out these brothers have had no easy ride, but through it all made invaluable memories and maintained a brotherly bond that they’ll cherish forever. This episode is available as a podcast, or in video format with subtitles on YouTube. To find out more about Aerobility, please visit our website: www.aerobility.com

Kicking off the New Year, Harriett is joined by the Winstanley brothers; Paul (Air Traffic Controller, Chair of the UK ATCO union and Aerobility trustee) and David (C.E.O of Biggin Hill Airport). Sharing their unfiltered highs and lows, Paul and David discuss how they navigated through early life, learning to look after their mental health, and how bouncing back from mistakes helped them develop into the inspirational leaders they are today. This episode is available as a podcast and in video format with subtitles on YouTube. To find out more about Aerobility, please visit our website: www.aerobility.com

In a special one-off live episode of Inspire-Ability, recorded out in the elements at Blackbushe during our fantastic Aerobility Live event, Harriett is joined on stage by Katherine Moloney. Katherine is a successful businesswoman, and recently established the ‘Elevate Her’ programme to educate, inform, and inspire gender diversity in the aviation industry. Despite her current passion for all things flying, Katherine tells Harriett how this was not always the case, having been uninterested in aviation until she was 18! Now though, Katherine is driven by her love of flying, and her desire to share this with as many other women as possible. She discusses with Harriett the importance of having conviction in your beliefs, the positive impact that imposter syndrome can be harnessed to bring, and why aviation must be made into a more inclusive environment. 

This is the final episode of series 2: as always thanks for watching and listening, and look out for more information about series 3 soon!

Episodes released every Friday afternoon. Available as a subtitled video format on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcolE-AfelXHlfWWw-KR74A 

To find out more about Aerobility, and to get involved, please visit our website: aerobility.com

For the final episode of this year’s studio recordings of Inspire-Ability, Chrissie Miller takes us through her journey from graduating staff college through to taking the role she dreamed of when first starting out within the RAF. Although her experiences in this time challenged the preconceived ideas that she had about service life, Chrissie shares with Harriett her observations as a female in a senior leadership role in the RAF, when so often she found herself to be the only woman in the room. Chrissie also reflects on the progress that has been made in society, especially in Forces life, in comparison with her parents’ generation, and in this she firmly advocates for the flexible working policies that enabled her to remain in her position while raising a young family. 

From discussions around the menopause, to considering the traits that make a good leader or instructor, this enlightening conversation is the perfect note with which to end the second series of our Inspire-Ability podcast!

Episodes released every Friday afternoon. Available as a subtitled video format on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcolE-AfelXHlfWWw-KR74A 

To find out more about Aerobility, and to get involved, please visit our website: aerobility.com

The first episode with our final studio guest of the series sees Chrissie Miller catch up with Harriett. The current RAF Group Captain discusses her childhood and military upbringing, with both parents serving in the Navy, and how she left university with a sports science degree but very little firm career direction. With the military calling, Chrissie goes on to describe how she approached the interview process, and explains why working in an office role at Vodaphone was the perfect training to become an RAF Air Traffic Controller!

Episodes released every Friday afternoon. Available as a subtitled video format on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcolE-AfelXHlfWWw-KR74A 

To find out more about Aerobility, and to get involved, please visit our website: aerobility.com

For our final episode in conversation with Al, he and Harriett discuss the importance of role models while reflecting on his speaking visit to a school, where he was inspired by the childrens’ interest in aviation; conversation also covers the real and perceived barriers for various demographics, and how this can be improved by those within the industry. Al also reflects on the challenges he faces in balancing work and life, and he shares what he has learned in decompressing from work (especially the importance of saying no). Lastly, he shares how his foray into cooking during lockdown has inspired a new culinary project, inspired by the heritage of British Airways. 

Episodes released every Friday afternoon. Available as a subtitled video format on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcolE-AfelXHlfWWw-KR74A 

To find out more about Aerobility, and to get involved, please visit our website: aerobility.com

In the second part of our conversation with Allister Bridger, he discusses his role as Director of Flight Operations with British Airways during the coronavirus pandemic, and the challenges that he faced during the greatest period of uncertainty in aviation history. Al shares how he chooses to project confidence in these situations, even if internally he is “always catastrophizing”, and describes how this relates to his core values. He also discusses with Harriett the importance of diversity and social mobility within aviation; having joined BA before they took on their first female pilot, and how he has continued to endorse this journey in his recent positions, as well as reflecting on the importance of Aerobility’s Equal Skies Charter.

Episodes released every Friday afternoon. Available as a subtitled video format on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcolE-AfelXHlfWWw-KR74A 

To find out more about Aerobility, and to get involved, please visit our website: aerobility.com

The first part of our interview with our next guest, Allister Bridger. From a typical childhood in Tunbridge Wells, to a career in the Royal Air Force, and subsequently rising to such positions as Director of Flight Operations at British Airways, flying has been a huge part of Al’s life. But initially, living under the glide path for Gatwick Airport was only “peripheral”, and it wasn’t until a family holiday at the age of 12 on a Monarch airliner that he caught the flying bug! From that initial spark, Al describes to Harriett how the goal of being a pilot informed his choices of subjects in school, and how the RAF Air Cadets were an invaluable factor in achieving his PPL and ultimately his flying dreams. Despite the aid of the ATC however, it would not be a simple path to becoming an airline pilot: what was needed first was a “bucket of determination” in the face of adversity. Indeed, despite the success he has since achieved with the airline, as a teenage applicant British Airways rejected Al’s application, and thus he spent nearly a decade as a fast jet pilot in the RAF. Al is extremely humble in describing this chapter of his life, and reflects on the positives that these initial hurdles have since brought him, and he is especially keen to share how it has informed his approach to mentoring and instruction.

Episodes released every Friday afternoon. Available as a subtitled video format on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcolE-AfelXHlfWWw-KR74A 

To find out more about Aerobility, and to get involved, please visit our website: aerobility.com

We close our conversation with Katy Lee MBE, with a discussion around the importance of mental health and the importance of support across all industries and working environments. Katy was responsible for establishing Pilots Together, a text service for confidential mental health support for pilots, and she speaks movingly about how the loss of her father has fed her drive to support these measures. Katy and Harriett also share advice on reaching out for help, and how to recognise the signs in your own mental health that indicate you might need support. After Pilots Together, Katy has also established Aviation in Reach, an organisation to offer mentoring opportunities to those aspiring to join the aviation industry, and she discusses the significance of diversity, as well as how she believes this can be further encouraged.

Episodes released every Friday afternoon. Available as a subtitled video format on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcolE-AfelXHlfWWw-KR74A 

To find out more about Aerobility, and to get involved, please visit our website: aerobility.com