Grounded - Signed Paperback

PRESS RELEASE

“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.”

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 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.

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.

Book extract...

As I walked away from the aircraft that night, as I always did, I looked back to check it was all ok. I felt like I was saying goodbye to a dear friend. This might sound silly and sentimental, but during my eleven years working for an airline, I have spent an entire year in the flight deck of an Airbus A319 or A320 and it was a familiar and safe environment that I knew my way around. I loved everything about it from the big wide windows meaning that every day I flew I saw bright sunshine, to the side stick we use to fly, as opposed to the yoke of most small aircraft or a Boeing passenger jet, the genius of the much coveted tray table that pulled out from beneath my two instrument screens, and the general sense of space there was in what was otherwise a little room at the front of an aircraft where all the magic supposedly happens. I also loved knowing that there were hundreds of onboard computers processing information, and making things happen, and the vast panel of buttons and switches above our heads that were laid out in what seemed to me to be a logical order and were just a normal part of my working day. This space had safely transported me and my passengers to hundreds of destinations across the UK, Europe and North Africa over more than a decade, and represented a lot of hard work but also a lot of fun, so walking away from that aircraft, on that night in March 2020 was just like walking away from an old pal and not knowing when you would see them again.

Having spent the night in my digs on the south coast, the next day, I drove on empty roads back to an empty Gatwick, parked in an empty car park, walked to the terminal and caught an empty shuttle to the South Terminal to catch an empty train straight through London to Luton, took an empty bus up to that Terminal which was also silent and still and quite eerie. I had been based at Luton for almost four years and I don’t think there was ever a time when I walked through the terminal on duty or as a passenger, when it wasn’t completely heaving with people. Seeing what I knew to be such a busy place, empty and quiet was something I never thought I would experience - and it was extremely uncomfortable. My flight to Inverness was unusually early - that particular flight always came in from an early rotation to Paris Charles de Gaulle and often ran a little behind - to be early was very unusual but what was even more uncommon was that it too was almost empty.

About the author...

Until September 2020 Emma was one of fewer than five hundred female airline captains in the world. Then, as covid swept the globe and grounded Emma and her colleagues, she founded a charity, of which she is now CEO, and had to choose to allow the sun to set on a flying career that spanned three decades. Already well-known in the airline industry, in 2019, Emma starred in an ITV documentary, Inside the Cockpit, and overnight became known as 'Captain Emma'. She was nominated easyJet Captain of the Year in 2018.

The challenges Emma faced throughout her career have taught her more than most about leadership, resilience, perseverance and grace,

and she has used these skills to great effect at Project Wingman which has gained national acclaim uniting the airline industry in providing well-being support to those in aviation and to NHS frontline staff across the UK and briefly, the US. In January 2021 Emma was made MBE for her services to charity.

Emma's story is one of triumph over adversity, determination, finding the good in everyone and inspiring and empowering her team of six thousand volunteers, and always with a generous heart. She now uses her years of knowledge and experience gained from life at 37000 feet to inspire the next generation of aviators.

Key achievements are reflected in all she has done, widely celebrated across the industry for these, being recognised as businesswoman of the year in 2020, she also received a Points of Light award, the ACA Chairmans Industry Recognition Award, she was awarded the Brabazon Cup in 2021, as well as being made MBE.