History
Michelle Arnold
Michelle Arnold has been ‘on the sidelines’ of Aviation since 1991. She has family members and friends who are pilots, aircraft owners, engineers and operations managers. She is passionate about the General Aviation industry in North Queensland and the wealth of opportunities it provides. Michelle has had the privilege of stepping into an Ops Management role during peak demand such as cyclones, floods and special events.
On International Women’s Day March 2018, Michelle Arnold walked into Hangar 85, where Townsville Helicopters, Townsville Flight Training and ZephAir Australia all operate. Very aware of the significance of the day with the overarching theme of #PressforProgress, Michelle became acutely conscious of the extremely low participation rate amongst women in all facets of aviation, in particular the number of young, and young at heart, women enrolling in flight training. Aviatrix Australia was born as a means to bring awareness and encouragement to the next generation of aviators and to support and advocate for those currently in the industry.
Georgie Arnold
For most, aviation, flying and travel is an escape, for Georgie Arnold it’s something she can’t escape. However, she says she wouldn’t want it any other way. With her family heavily involved in the industry, aviation is in her blood, it’s the flight path she was raised on. In fact, bird was her first word, born to fly some would say! Georgie's mum Michelle, carried her in her tummy through the air and she was sky high before she could crawl. Now she carries her brand Aviatrix Australia.
Captain G commenced training as a pilot two years after graduating from High School. As the only female student in her flight school she was upset and confused as to why women weren't enrolling, she came to the conclusion that 'you can't be what you can't see'. As there is not much to see as far as female role models in the industry go, after completing flight training she happily took on managing Aviatrix to start pushing the brand Australia wide for all women to feel involved and not just in her family owned Hangar. She is a huge advocate for educating people about the different career pathways available and makes it her mission to inform people about the importance of aviation for the future of Australia. Georgie states that she has been on cloud 9 everyday since stepping into the industry, and showing others, that girl you got this!
Together
Aviatrix, meaning female pilot, was created in our family owned and operated Hangar after research showed that women only make up 7% of pilots across the globe at the time. We are here to encourage, educate, and support more women into the aviation industry.
Whilst originally our main goal was to grow the percentage of female pilots in Australia, we believe it is just as important to strengthen and create relationships amongst those who are already in the aviation industry and pride ourselves on the community of incredible women we have brought together.
Aviatrix Australia is represented by the ulysses butterfly, native to North Queensland which our brand was born and raised in. Beautiful and bold like the women who are a vital part of building this industry. Blue, like the sky we soar through and simply breathtaking, a feeling used to describe the feeling of flying.
Like the ulysses butterfly there comes a time in every cycle in which change must occur to ensure a strong and healthy future. For the aviation industry that time for change is now. Join us on our journey:
We know you can’t be what you can’t see and we would love to highlight your achievements - head to our socials to stay up to date on the many ways to be involved with the Aviatrix Australia community as well all our upcoming events.
