True leadership means adapting with integrity and having the courage to be vulnerable.
Angela Garvey is a commercial pilot, airshow display pilot, and the founder of Navigating Aviation - a specialist counselling and consultancy service dedicated to improving mental health and workplace culture within Australia’s aviation sector.
Angela’s lived experience following a tragic aviation accident that claimed five lives within her own business shaped her resolve to build the support system she once searched for but couldn’t find. She established Navigating Aviation to address the lack of psychosocial safety in the industry - providing confidential support and industry-specific training. Her work also includes advocacy for improved pilot training, including introducing upset prevention and recovery training and higher standards in initial flight training to create a safer, more resilient industry.
Supported by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts through the Women Working in Aviation initiative, Angela launched the world-first Aviation Culture and Wellbeing Survey in 2024 to uncover industry-wide psychosocial hazards - including bullying and sexual harassment. The findings now form the foundation of her tailored programs, which include Mental Health First Aid (Australia) workshops, psychosocial hazard management training, and leadership empowerment. A key focus of Angela’s work is to support and retain the women currently working in aviation.
Angela’s journey hasn’t been easy. As a woman working in corporate aviation, she has faced discrimination, harassment, and the professional and financial setbacks that can come from speaking out. Despite these challenges, Angela’s determination never wavered. Her perseverance led to a significant milestone in 2024 when she became the first female pilot to fly with the Freedom Formation Airshow Display Team at the Pacific Airshow Gold Coast. That same year, her contribution to the industry was recognised with two significant accolades: Female Aviation Leader of the Year - Small Business and the Excellence Award at the Australian Aviation Awards.
Angela’s story of overcoming adversity resonates across all industries. Her work inspires leadership teams, advocacy groups, and management teams, proving that vulnerability, integrity, and decency are the foundations of cultural change in any sector.
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Angela Garvey | Saxton Speakers
Angela Garvey was a speaker on Day 1 of the PACDEFF CRM and Aviation Human Factors Conference in Brisbane, over the 12th and 13th of September 2023. Her presentation, “The Unseen Hole in the ... keep reading PACDEFF
The service provided by Angela are unique within our industry in that Angela’s lived experience as a pilot and former aviation business owner provide her with a great depth of understanding of the industry, it’s stresses and challenges and provide the perfect platform to offer support, counselling and assistance. Our team are able to reach out and contact Angela in strict confidence at any time. Her support and guidance has already assisted a number of members of the Sharp team, and the anecdotal feedback amongst our staff about the implementation of the program has been extremely positive.
