Emma Henderson, MBE
Multi-award-winning Professional Speaker, Author, Airline Captain, Founder and CEO of Project Wingman Foundation Ltd.
From Airline Captain…
Watching the Space Shuttle Enterprise touch down at Stansted airport on the back of a Boeing 747, aged ten, was the moment I decided that I wanted to fly. What I didn’t know then was that I would go on to become one of fewer than 500 female airline captains in the world, flying passenger jets for one of Europe’s largest airlines.
Working in a high-pressured, male-dominated environment I had to learn patience and resilience; I juggled flight training with life as a military (RAF) wife, raising three young children and living across the world from family and friends.
Flying multi-million pound passenger jets across Europe for over a decade was a dream job. I flew celebrities and royalty (as well as my own children), watching sunrises and sunsets from the best seat on the plane. But in 2020, the pandemic grounded flights worldwide and my dream career ended abruptly.
& Award-Winning Charity Founder…
Taking voluntary redundancy, I knew I had so much still to offer the aviation industry and was determined to do something to help those on the frontline – the NHS. I founded Project Wingman, now a global charity - an initiative staffed by my airline colleagues, providing a ‘first class lounge’ experience to offer rest and recuperation for thousands of NHS staff nationwide.
In recognition of my work, I was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours list.
Awarded by HM Queen and HRH Prince Phillip, (the last ‘tranche’ for the two of them together) I was presented with the award in May 2022, by HRH Prince Charles at Windsor Castle.
…to Global Leadership Speaker…
Now I inspire audiences across the world, sharing my stories of leadership, resilience, decision making and wellbeing, offering audiences across the world the strategies, behaviours and inspiration to break through challenges to reach their full potential. I have recently been shortlisted at The Speaker Awards in two categories.
…and Author
My first book “Grounded” is now available online in paperback and digital format.
There was something else in the air that night which made us feel that the flight we had just operated was somehow significant. Whether it was the anticipation of our impending doom or just a realisation that a tidal wave was rushing towards us and we were trapped on the beach, unable to escape its inevitability, I will never know, but ultimately, although I did not know it at the time, this was a very significant flight for me because it turned out to be the last flight in eleven years at my airline, in a career spanning more than thirty years and five different bases.
The fact that there are still fewer than 500 female airline captains in the world today is part of the reason that I wanted to tell my story.
I have a voice, it is my responsibility to use it to benefit other people, I may be grounded, at the moment, but this isn’t necessarily the end of my flying story, it never is when you fly, because flying is not something you do, flying is something you are.
Grounded
Author: Captain Emma Henderson MBE
ISBN 978-1-916776-15-9
Available at all good bookstores and online in print and digital versions
Media Appearances
Emma has appeared on numerous national television and podcasts, starring in the prime time ITV documentary, “Inside the Cockpit” and an appearance on “This Morning”. Find out more in her media archive.
