Stephen Farmer, our Head of Communications, reflects on Altitude Angel's 10 years, sharing his experiences, lessons learned, and his view of an optimistic future. Read his blog here:
As we celebrate a decade of Altitude Angel, we look at... an optimistic future
In February 2019 I drove to Reading to interview for the newly created role of Head of Communications for Altitude Angel. Before applying, I’d never heard of the company, had never really given drones much thought, and I’d certainly never considered what would be needed, by way of technology and platforms, to enable drone deliveries. Before the interview I was tasked with delivering a presentation on UTM. I set about doing my industry research, working out the three letter acronyms and putting it all down on Powerpoint – whilst trying to avoid the mistake everyone here has made at some stage, writing ‘Altitude Angels’ or ‘Altitude Angles’.
I remember the interview being quite good fun. I presented to Richard [Parker] and some of the wider team what I thought UTM was, cracked a poor joke about ATM and cash machines, and somehow was offered the job.
Nearly six years later, I’ve had the most rewarding time bringing the amazing work Altitude Angel is doing to the attention of the wider aviation industry, governments, the media, and the public.
I’ve sat down with Lords & Baronesses, MPs, journalists, producers, and presenters to explain how our ground-breaking technologies can enable the next generation of air-space users.
I’ve learned so much and been able to achieve some unforgettable career highs, from winning our first Air Traffic Management magazine award (the company won it, I wrote the submission) to securing interviews and profile pieces on Altitude Angel in, and on, the likes of BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme (setting the day’s news agenda!), The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Daily Telegraph, The Times, TechCrunch, and Financial Times.
But I’ve also experienced some lows. The frustration of making great progress with a Minister, only for them to be replaced in a reshuffle or through a change of Government is draining and seeing ‘snake oil salesmen’ peddling obvious falsehoods, just to get a few column inches, is painful, as I know it will be harmful to our own progress (when someone promises X and doesn’t deliver, people are less likely to believe those who will).
But as we look to 2025 and beyond, I’ve never been more optimistic. At the time of writing in December 2024, our Approval Services platform is being used in 40% of the UK’s airports and aerodromes (and more following), as well as being adopted by landowners – including those entrusted to manage Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle – to enable drone operations. Drone Assist continues to be the recreational and commercial drone operator’s app of choice when it comes to flight planning. And our Arrow technology, developed to enable BVLOS operations, is ready to scale and make the UK a leader in automated flight.
As anyone involved in this industry will tell you, the last 10 years have, at times, felt like a battle; regulations, regulators, funding, COVID. Napoleon Bonaparte was criticised for winning battles simply because of luck. He famously retorted: “I'd rather have lucky generals than good ones.” I’m not a believer in luck. Luck is preparation meeting opportunity. Altitude Angel has been a decade preparing. We’re ready. And I can hear opportunity knocking….
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