Emma Henderson MBE MRAeS is an international keynote and TEDx speaker who helps leaders stay calm, confident and resilient when the pressure spikes. With 30+ years in aviation and a career built on real-time decisions, Emma brings the discipline of the cockpit into organisations that need clarity, pace and trust. She is a former airline captain, trained to lead from the front in complex, fast-moving environments where communication errors and hesitation carry serious consequences. That experience translates cleanly into boardrooms and leadership teams, because the fundamentals are the same, people need direction, shared standards, and the confidence to speak up early.
As one of fewer than 500 female airline captains worldwide, Emma built authority in a male-dominated industry by combining composure with rigor. She has led flight crews through high-stakes situations, trained developing pilots, and learned what helps teams perform when stress narrows attention and uncertainty rises. Emma’s work focuses on decision-making under pressure, trust-building, and what it takes to lead hybrid, diverse teams without slipping into noise or paralysis. She is also the creator of the AV8 Decision Making Model™ and the A.V.I.A.T.E framework, giving audiences a practical structure they can use immediately, from aligning on the facts to running clean debriefs that lock in learning.
In 2020, Emma took voluntary redundancy after the aviation industry was grounded and turned that turning point into impact. She co-founded Project Wingman, a wellbeing initiative that galvanised thousands of airline colleagues to support frontline NHS staff through ‘first class lounge’ rest spaces and human connection when burnout was widespread. Emma was awarded MBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours for this work, and later received the honour at Windsor Castle. That story lands with audiences because it is leadership in action, done with empathy, pace, and a clear mission when circumstances were tough for everyone involved.
Emma is known for keynotes that blend humour, humanity and tools that stick. She is a 2025 Bookers’ Choice Award Winner and a bestselling author of ‘Grounded’, bringing depth and narrative pull to every session. Event organisers book Emma when they want more than inspiration, they want a simple model teams can apply the next morning. For example, a leadership group facing a sudden operational crisis can use Emma’s framework to stabilise the room, clarify roles, choose a safe course of action, and run a short debrief so the same issue is less likely to repeat.
