About Terry

Terry is an ex airline pilot with over 20 years in the industry, having flown both global cargo charters and scheduled passenger services from Britain. His final job before retirement was as a captain with a regional arm of British Airways.

He is uniquely informed and connected in the world of aviation with access to some of the major players in the industry, and after more than 10 years as the chairman of his local BALPA union council, has intimate knowledge of industrial issues and how major companies work.

He regularly writes for the Western Morning News under his own name and the nom de plume of Mike Shapland. He also contributes to other newspapers on an ad hoc basis. He frequently appears on the BBC and other media as a commentator on aviation issues.

His flying career began with flying air taxi services, shipping patrols and as a flying instructor. He joined Eurocity Express at London City Airport in the  Docklands soon after its initial opening and continued as the company changed to London City Airways, gaining his first airline command with them flying the De Havilland Dash 7.

In 1990 he joined Heavylift Cargo Airlines at Stansted flying the Shorts Belfast on worldwide cargo operations, which included the delivery of military equipment into the Middle Eastern desert during Gulf War 1.

After the recession forced another move Terry joined Brymon Airways as a Dash 7 captain, once again at London City Airport, finally moving to Bristol where he stayed as a regional jet captain, until taking early retirement in 2006. The company had been taken over by British Airways during the 1990s and was finally operating as British Airways Citi Express.

Prior to his flying career Terry had been involved in various businesses, which began with another love of interesting machinery. After flirting with motor racing in the 1960s and 1970s, which, he says, “Served to demonstrate my survival instinct rather better than my competitiveness,” he worked with Peter Berthon and Raymond Mays, creators of ERA and BRM, at the premises in Rye which Peter acquired for his collaboration with Harry Weslake in their attempt to win the contract to design and build a Formula One engine for the Ford Motor Company.

He was involved in various businesses associated with high performance cars, initially with Peter Berthon, and was a successful dealer with BMW and Lotus Cars for many years, winning a number of sales awards.

In 1980 he started a business importing and selling wood burning stoves and alternative energy products. The company was sold in 1984 and continues today.

During this time he obtained his private pilot’s licence and became a

flying instructor. In 1984 he attended Sir John Cass College at the

City of London Polytechnic and obtained his Commercial Pilots Licence in 1985. His Airline Transport Pilots Licence followed in 1989.

Terry was born in Maidstone, Kent, in 1946 and was brought up in Rye East Sussex from the age of 9. He lived in the southeastern part of Britain until work took him elsewhere, finally living in Bristol before moving to Barcelona, Spain, where he lives with his wife Corinne. He visits Britain frequently.

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