SAFA Skysailor Magazine

25 SPRING 2026 | September-October-November SKY SAILOR my career were connected to very tangible outcomes. Providing safe drinking water makes a direct difference to people’s lives. Environmental work can feel like you’re trying to protect or improve something bigger than yourself. More recently, I was working in finance with a small team and a portfolio of clients. I built strong relationships, but I missed that connection to a wider purpose. When the SAFA role came up, it ticked many boxes. I love flying, I’m a pilot, and I fly as much as I can. Nearly everyone in the SAFA team is the same. We’re pilots working for pilots. How cool is that? It also brings together a lot of the expe- rience I’ve built over the years: regulation, governance, safety, emergency man- agement, organisational leadership and working with diverse stakeholders. The context is new, but many of the underlying challenges are familiar. Your approach evolves after more than 20 years in leadership. You become more situational: You need to be who the cir- cumstances and people need you to be. In this role, part of that is giving the team the opportunity to do work they’re passionate about, while making sure we get the job done. SAFA has a great team of people who are not only pilots, but experienced pilots and instructors. They understand what members do because they do it themselves. What priorities and opportunities do you see? My first weeks have been about listening and connecting. First with the internal team and the Board, now I’m increasingly looking towards clubs, members and other stakeholders. SAFA operates across three closely linked areas: Aviation regulation, which enables us to fly; the corporate side, which supports our membership structure and insurance; then there’s the sport. Each area brings different responsibilities and opportunities. One priority is to keep creating an organisation that is easy to deal with and helps people continue to fly. The team does an enormous amount of work behind the scenes to make that possible. Members don’t necessarily need to see every operational detail, but there is op- portunity to make the value of that work more visible. Photos: Gavin Hanlon