One of Fewer Than 500.
Michelle Huntington spent 23 years in aviation, eventually becoming a Boeing 737 Captain and one of fewer than 500 female airline captains globally.
It wasn’t an obvious career choice. A school careers adviser told her that women’s anatomy made them unsuitable for flying. She couldn’t get a bank loan for her training, sold her house and car, moved back in with her mum and young son, and kept going.
Then there was the flying.
She ferried small aircraft solo across the Pacific, landed after a lightning strike took out her instruments and radios, flew aircraft with all sorts of things going wrong and learned that sometimes the person you need to question is the Captain sitting beside you.
Some of those experiences were extraordinary. Others were simply part of spending more than two decades in a job where you never quite knew what the next flight would bring.
They gave Michelle a lot of material.
WHY LADY MACGYVER?
Somewhere along the way, Michelle became known as Lady MacGyver.
It was a pretty good fit.
Flying small aircraft across the Pacific with a child’s toy syringe to add oil mid-flight probably helped. So did years of dealing with aircraft, weather, people and situations that didn’t always behave as expected.
The nickname eventually became the title of her book, Lady MacGyver: Unbelievable Stories with Altitude, and now her keynote.
The stories come from aviation and life outside it, including breast cancer, losing the career that had defined much of her adult life and working out what came next.
They’re great stories, but that’s not why Michelle tells them.
She uses them to show what it looks like when the obvious answer isn’t available and you have to work with what you’ve got.
As one event organiser noted, "You could have heard a pin drop as Michelle held the audience with her storytelling. She was the standout of the event".
WHY BOOK MICHELLE?
SHE’S LIVED THE STORIES SHE TELLS.
Michelle spent more than two decades flying aircraft and leading crews. The lightning strike, Pacific crossings, difficult Captains, career setbacks and questionable solutions really happened.
SHE CAN HOLD A ROOM.
Michelle is an experienced keynote speaker, facilitator, TEDx speaker and author. Her presentations are built around stories rather than slides full of theory.
“You had the audience completely captivated.”
“Your keynote presentation was inspiring, thought-provoking and, at times, absolutely astonishing.”
Commander Kirsten Engels
Northern Territory Organising Committee
Australasian Council of Women and Policing Conference 2026
THERE’S SOMETHING USEFUL UNDERNEATH IT.
The stories open up conversations about judgement, leadership, resilience, capability, speaking up, decision-making and what people do when the situation in front of them isn’t the one they expected.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT MICHELLE
23 years in aviation
Commercial pilot and Boeing 737 Captain
Keynote speaker
Conferences, corporate events and leadership programs in Australia and internationally
Author
Lady MacGyver: Unbelievable Stories with Altitude
TEDx speaker
Facilitator
More than 30 years facilitating groups and learning
Also
Visual Arts degree · Master’s in Archaeology · Artist · Podcaster