Kelly Stone MBE – A pioneering career in Aviation and Airport Operations

In this episode you’ll hear from Kelly Stone, Head of Airport Operations at Heathrow. Kelly’s career began at Gatwick in the 80s and has spanned electrical and water service engineering at both Gatwick and Heathrow.

Kelly recounts her early experiences of STEM; being encouraged to ‘tinker’ alongside her Dad’s passion for amateur car racing (he enlisted Kelly and her sister to be his unofficial pit crew)!

It was an outing to Gatwick Airport that ignited her passion – as soon as she got a glimpse behind the scenes of an airport she was hooked on all things aviation. She reflects on the apprenticeship programme she loved, despite a few humorous mishaps along the way like nearly missing her interview or her ill-fitting safety boots that made her look like ‘Ronald McDonald’ (her words!). She reveals how proud she is that similar programmes are still running today to mentor the next generation of airport operators.

After 37 years, Kelly still loves being in an airport environment; no two days are ever the same, she finds she is still learning and is challenged by new ‘gifts’ every day.

To learn more about STEMazing, and this week’s guest, head to https://www.stemazing.co.uk/podcast