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About Us

Founded in 1909, the Air League is the UK’s leading aviation, aerospace, and space charity that changes lives. It breaks down the barriers into these industries through its scholarships and outreach programmes.

What we do

The Air League inspires, enables, and supports the next generation of aviation, aerospace, and space professionals from all backgrounds. By bridging the gap between education and industry the Air League impacts communities across the United Kingdom.
Through its programmes and projects, the Air League increases social mobility, breaks down the perceived barriers and acts as a catalyst to spark the inspiration and realisation that opportunities and possibilities are accessible to anyone.

changing lives

Each year thousands of individuals around the UK benefit from Air League support, including disadvantaged youngsters and wounded and injured servicemen and women. Equally important is ensuring this next generation of aviation and aerospace leaders are at the forefront of developing greener and more sustainable technologies.


supporting our industries

The Air League supports the UK’s aviation and aerospace industries through Parliamentary events and position papers which articulate the advanced technologies and crucial industry skills which are vital to the economic success of the UK. The Air League’s annual programme of events and lectures provide members with insight across a broad spectrum of subjects and a unique networking opportunity.



HRH THE PRINCE PHILIP DUKE OF EDINBURGH KG KT


Patron of the Air League
1952 - 2021

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Key people

Sir Christopher Harper KBE FRAeS

President

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Claire MacAleese FRAeS

Chair

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President

Patrons

1947 – 1952: HRH The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh

1952 – 2021: HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh KG KT

Life Vice-Presidents

Sir B K Burridge KCB CBE ADC

Mr T M Holloway

Mr K D R Mans

The Rt Hon Baron Tebbit CH

Mr C M H Walkinshaw DL

The board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees oversee the efficient and legal running of the Air League Trust in furtherance of its objects and in accordance with its Articles.

New Trustees are identified, selected and appointed by the existing Trustees and they serve for a period of three years and may be re-elected for a further three-year term before standing down. Trustees are unpaid.

Anita Bernie

Trustee

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Jeremy Greaves FRAeS

Trustee

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Grenville Hodge

Honorary Treasurer

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Paul Everitt

Trustee

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Air Cdre Al Lewis

Trustee

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Dame Dawn Childs DBE FREng

Trustee

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Nigel Lowe MBA

Trustee

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Council of the air League

The Council of the Air League is an advisory and consultative body composed of senior leaders within UK aviation, aerospace and defence.

Council has convened since the founding of the League in 1909 and works closely alongside the Board of Trustees in supporting the Air League’s strategic aims and objectives. The Council also identifies any matters concerning aviation, aerospace, and defence that the Air League should engage in, support or highlight.

Council members will serve a three-year term and may be invited to serve for a second, consecutive term before standing down.

Council members

Baroness Garden of Frognall

Dr B Humphreys

Mr C Tarry

Prof I Poll OBE FREng FCGI Hon FAIAA FRAeS

Mr J Goodsir CBE

Ms V Cope FRAeS

Mr J Steel KC

Mr J Towell

Mr J Counsell

Lord Davies of Gower

Mr N Goodwyn 

Mr P Fernandes

Mr R Piper

Mr S A Pendry FRAeS

Sir G Howarth

Sir R Bone

Mr S J Fitz-Gerald

Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper KBE FRAeS

Sir Chris served in the Royal Air Force for over 40 years. Having learned to fly as an Air Cadet, he joined the RAF as a fighter pilot in 1976. He flew numerous aircraft including the SEPECAT Jaguar, the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet and, more recently, the Eurofighter Typhoon. He was involved in active operations over Iraq and in the Balkans and commanded at all levels of the Royal Air Force including as the Commander of RAF Coltishall and the RAF Jaguar Force (1999 to 2001), and as Air Officer Commanding of No 1 Group (2007 to 2009).

Sir Chris also held important staff appointments in the UK Ministry of Defence and at the RAF’s Air Command headquarters. His last 7 years in the Royal Air Force saw him working with NATO. From 2009 to 2011 he was Deputy Commander of NATO’s Joint Force Command at Brunssum in the Netherlands; following that, he was the UK’s Military Representative to NATO and the EU. More recently, from 2013 to 2016, he was Director General of the NATO International Military Staff. From this high-level military-diplomatic position in NATO’s HQ in Brussels, he managed the Alliance’s political-military seam and was responsible for developing, negotiating and gaining consensus amongst NATO’s 28 allies for innumerable major NATO strategic policy decisions.

Sir Chris left the Royal Air Force in January 2017. Determined not to let his experience in aviation and the international defence and security domain go to waste, he started a small, independent consultancy company, CH4C Global Ltd, based in Norfolk, UK. The company advises companies such as Improbable, Adarga, Eagle Eye Innovations, Harmonic and, most recently, Accenture.

Sir Chris has a passion for harnessing new, innovative, positively disruptive technology for application in the defence and security sector. He regularly speaks at key events such as the Munich and Berlin Security Conferences and at Wilton Park and was appointed a Non-resident Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council of the United States in 2017. Maintaining his links with the RAF, Sir Chris is the Honorary Air Commodore of No 2620 ‘County of Norfolk’ Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force based at RAF Marham. He is also a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society; he serves on the Society’s Council and on the Committee of its Air Power Group. Sir Chris served as a Trustee of the Air League from 2016 until relinquishing that role on being appointed the League’s President in December 2020. He maintains a lifelong love of flying; he built and flies a Vans RV-8 aircraft in which he and his wife Jan tour regularly.

Claire MacAleese FRAeS

Claire has two decades of experience in communications, corporate affairs and public affairs and is a former UK government special advisor to two Secretaries of State for Transport. With extensive experience managing large teams in the engineering and transport sectors, Claire is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and was appointed an Air League Trustee in 2019, before being appointed the position of Chair of the Board of Trustees in 2024.

Anita Bernie

Anita joins the Air League having recently been appointed Managing Director of MDA UK, having overarching responsibility for all UK business; tasked with leading the operational delivery of mission-critical programmes, developing customer relationships and scaling the business.

Anita previously led Strategy and Execution activities at Farnborough-based start-up KISPE Space Systems Limited, supporting the growth of capabilities and opportunities to enable teams to leverage the benefits of space and space-enabled systems and knowledge, to make difficult challenges a reality and to apply new technology and approaches for the betterment and enhancement of humankind.

Anita is also an Honorary Group Captain in Royal Air Force 601 Squadron, providing insights on Space matters to RAF and MOD personnel.

She is also a member of the Board of Directors at nanosatellite pioneers AAC Clyde Space, which provides Space Data As A Service, Missions, Products and Components to worldwide customers and is a Board Member of the Institute of Directors, which has a Royal Charter to support, represent and set standards for business leaders nationwide.

Anita possesses an Aerospace Engineering Degree and an MBA and is active in STEM and Mentoring outreach activities for schoolchildren as young as 4 years of age through to undergraduates and early careers candidates, including events with organisations such as the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Science Museum.

Jeremy Greaves FRAeS

Jeremy Greaves has been at Airbus for more than fifteen years, in a number of diverse international roles covering Communications and PR, Business Development and latterly as Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Strategy in the UK. Presently he is also the interim head of UK Public Affairs.

He is an Honorary Captain, Royal Naval Reserve, and a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS).

Prior to Airbus he held increasingly senior positions in assorted London based marketing companies, the Defence Procurement Agency, Lockheed Martin UK and EADS.

Grenville Hodge

Grenville joined the Air League as Honorary Treasurer in May 2019. He has spent most of his working life in aerospace joining the industry from university with a degree in aeronautical engineering. He initially specialised in manufacturing before moving to general management in the light aircraft business where he was Managing Director of Brooklands Aerospace which manufactured the Optical aircraft. He subsequently spent over 20 years with BAE Systems where he worked in the Regional Aircraft, Airbus and Defence businesses and his final role was Group Audit Director.

Paul Everitt

Paul currently chair’s the board of the Aerospace Technology Institute and was previously chief executive and chairman of Farnborough International Ltd. During his career he has championed UK manufacturing and helped promote strong partnerships between industry and Government. 

 

 

AIR CDRE Al lewis

Air Commodore Al Lewis joined the Royal Air Force in 1994 as a graduate entrant and has since had an illustrious career spanning engineering, leadership, and talent management roles. Early postings included RAF Kinloss, RAF Cosford, and RAF Wyton, where he supported operations and exercises involving Nimrod aircraft, including deployments to the Falkland Islands and the Middle East.

Promoted to Squadron Leader in 2003, Gp Capt Lewis contributed to the Nimrod MRA4 programme and oversaw worldwide operations of the VC10 fleet at RAF Brize Norton. Following roles in talent management and staff appointments, he was promoted to Wing Commander in 2009 and later commanded Engineering and Logistics Wing at RAF Brize Norton, serving as Chief Air Engineer for Air Mobility assets.

In 2015, Gp Capt Lewis transitioned to a Full-Time Reservist role, becoming Commandant RAF Air Cadets in September 2024. His career reflects a dedication to engineering excellence, operational effectiveness, and youth development.

Dame Dawn Childs DBE

Dawn is the CEO of Pure Data Centres Group building and operating hyperscale data centres. Before joining Pure she led a multi-billion transformation programme for National Grid across both the gas and electricity transmission businesses. This followed several senior engineering appointments as: the Group Engineering Director for Merlin Entertainments with responsibility for engineering delivery and standards across the worldwide portfolio of theme parks; and the Head of Engineering at Gatwick Airport. She joined Gatwick after 23 years as an Engineering Officer in the Royal Air Force.

She is a Trustee of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairs the Audit & Risk Committee and a Trustee of the Air League. She was the longest serving President of the Women’s Engineering Society, turning it around over a 5 year tenure, and is currently the Chair of the iMasons People Committee.

 

She was honoured with a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in October 2020 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the engineering profession and was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) for services to engineering in the King’s New Years Honours 2023.

Nigel Lowe MBA

Nigel joins the Air League having successfully worked across the consulting industry for the past 25 years. He is an experienced global Transformation and Change Management Leader who has specialised in providing innovative solutions to complex largescale Digital, IT, HR, Finance, Procurement and Talent related transformation programmes across a number of sectors. He currently leads a key Defence Account for PA Consulting.  

Nigel previously led the Digital, People and Change team for Cognizant Consulting in Europe along with the Global People and Change Lead for Wipro Consulting. He also worked for a big4 consulting company along with HP and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in his earlier career.

Prior to his consulting experience, he worked across Government where he delivered critical front line services, private pensions policy and internal consulting for DWP, while working in collaboration with adjacent departments such as the Inland Revenue, Serious Fraud office, DVLA etc.

He has developed his knowledge of the Royal Air Force, Aerospace and Defence sectors through years of delivering exceptional consulting client value across a number of critical programmes.

 

Nigel possesses an MBA with distinction and is active in the Aerospace skills development area and consulting mentoring programmes for new joiners to the industry. 

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