From joy-rides in a Mirage III fighter jet at age seven, to selling her home to help pay for flight lessons, to flying for Rex and eventually becoming one of the faces of Virgin Australia, Captain Michelle Huntington has had a truly astonishing journey.

She’s flown solo in a Beechcraft Bonanza from Arizona to Bankstown, been struck by lightning in mid-air, battled unruly passengers, and stared down industry sexism – but through it all, never lost her sense of adventure.

After leaving the industry during the height of COVID-19, Michelle has taken to the speaking circuit to share the lessons she’s learned, many of which also feature in her new book Lady MacGyver: Unbelievable stories with altitude.

On this special episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake sits down with Michelle to talk about her career, her book, whether there’s life after the sky – and how to keep your internal organs in their proper place at 30,000 feet.

The sound of investor presentations and ASX releases can only mean one thing: results season has come again, bringing joy and cheer to all the good shareholders of the land – especially those who’ve invested in airlines.

Qantas has posted another bumper profit as it looks to snap up even more A321XLRs, Virgin Australia has celebrated its 25th anniversary with a healthy result, Alliance is flying more hours than ever, and across the Tasman, even Air New Zealand is still in the black despite its many headaches.

Jake and guest host Benjamin Foster unpack all the major airlines’ results and take a look ahead to the prospects for 2026.

Plus, it’s the end of the line for Gold Coast Airport’s light rail – what might replace the controversial project as the Olympics draw ever closer?

As it recovers from massive fines and reputational headaches, Qantas has a new hairy problem to deal with over its move to make QantasLink flight crews adopt the same grooming standards as mainline Qantas and Jetstar pilots: namely, no beards allowed.

Qantas insists this is for safety reasons, with a report saying facial hair can interfere with oxygen masks – but hirsute Qantas pilots are crying “not by the hair on our chinny-chin-chins,” and pointing to studies showing beards shave hardly anything off the safety margin. So, who’s right?

Jake is joined by special guest host and fellow facial hair enthusiast Keith Ford of the ifa and SMSF Adviser podcasts to look at the arguments for and against the beard ban, and to take a brave stand against pogonophobia.

Plus, a bunfight erupts over government frequent-flyer perks, and Koala Airlines responds to our challenge – were we wrong about the scrappy start-up?