30 Under 30: Introducing high-flyer Bridget Donaldson
Bridget Donaldson, cabin crew and sustainability researcher, Tui, tells Katherine Masters about her ambitious plans for the aviation industry
Bridget was 12 when the Air Cadets came to her school. She’d never been on an aircraft until she joined and went flying with them. “I was in awe of the whole experience and became addicted. I loved the idea you could escape from everything on the ground!” she says.
With sponsorship from the Royal Air Force, she achieved her private pilot’s licence and later had the chance to instruct air cadets with the RAF Reserves.
By the end of her degree in geophysics at Newcastle University, she had realised there was a conflict between her passions: the environment and flying. “I joined Tui as cabin crew, initially for a summer. The company stood out for me,” she says. “They showed a real passion for sustainability, not just within the airline, but across the tour operator and supply chain too.”
CHANGE OF PLANS
After graduating in July 2019, Bridget completed an engineering internship at CERN in Switzerland working on the Large Hadron Collider before joining Tui again as cabin crew. She operated just a few flights before the pandemic hit. Her contract was put on hold, and she worked for the NHS while also applying to do a Masters at Oxford University. The course – Energy Systems Engineering – dealt with sustainability across all sectors.
Her thesis focused on sustainable aerospace engineering, looking at the future of long-haul travel and how current aircraft can be adapted to use different fuels. “Hydrogen was my main point of research,” she adds. “There’s a lot we can do, but we need much more collaboration across the industry.”
When flight schedules ramped up again, she was called back to Tui and approached group sustainability director Charlotte Wiebe, who introduced her to Christoph Todt, director for transformation and change and sustainability lead for aviation based at Tui HQ in Germany. “He was interested to hear about my research and engaged me in Tui’s sustainability group. I can’t give too much away, but I’m so passionate about where Tui is headed. We’re not just box-ticking,” she says.
GIVING BACK
Outside work, Bridget works as pro bono sustainability lead for the Air League. The organisation exists to bridge the gap between industry and government, and also looks to support young people with an interest in an aviation career.
She says: “I’m from a humble background, and the Air League supported me and my aviation ambitions through school and university. I wouldn’t be where I am now without their support and I’m grateful I can now give back to the organisation and to the young people who may be in a position that I once was. It means I’m spinning a lot of plates alongside my cabin crew duties but I love it.”
Bridget’s goal is to fly professionally as a pilot, but she’s still weighing up whether it would be better to go down the military or the commercial route.
“There’s so much momentum around sustainability, and I want to continue my research into a PhD. In the future there will be a place for aviation, travel and sustainability to exist in harmony and I’m excited to see what that will look like.”
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