Once upon a time, aviation was all about leather gloves, loud engines, and men called Nigel. Today? It’s about coding, robotics, sustainability, and—thanks to a cracking little program called Come Fly with Me—teenage girls from Western Sydney giving the tech boys a serious run for their money.
Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) and its digital sidekick, Amadeus, have pulled off something rather special in a move that’s part brilliance, part necessity. Not just a day of workshops. Not just a guest speaker and a laminated worksheet. No—they’ve planted the seed of career ambition into the hearts and minds of 35 girls who, just a few years ago, might’ve believed that planes were for pilots, not programmers.
Held at Amadeus’ Sydney lab—where you can practically smell the future brewing in the wires—the Come Fly with Me program gave students from Years 10 and 11 a full-throttle glimpse into what STEM (that’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, for those of us still getting our heads around the acronym avalanche) looks like in the real world. Spoiler alert: it seems like 3D printers, robotics, aviation simulations, and many high-fives.
“This Isn’t a Token Effort — It’s a Career Runway”
According to WSI CEO Simon Hickey, this program is just the beginning. And when Simon says WSI is about creating futures, not just flights, he means it.
“We’re not just building an airport,” Hickey told me with a glint of vision in his eye. “We’re building jobs, careers, and futures—for generations to come.”
And that, dear readers, is the jet fuel of this story. Not the terminal. Not the duty-free shops. It’s not the cappuccino with foam that you could bounce a coin off. It’s the fact that WSI is becoming a launchpad for Western Sydney’s young minds—a proper job-creating, future-shaping, career-kickstarting hub of opportunity.
At a time when most airport CEOs are busy chasing air rights and airline partnerships, Hickey and his team are looking much further ahead—to a workforce that doesn’t yet exist and to the students who might invent it.
Amadeus Opens the Door—and the Circuit Board
At the other end of the runway is Amadeus, a company that—unlike most tech giants—has a soul or a sense of responsibility. As the airport’s strategic tech partner, Amadeus didn’t just supply Wi-Fi. They opened their labs and rolled out the red carpet for the students, giving them tools, toys, and tech challenges that made the HSC look like finger painting.
“We wanted to show these young women what’s possible,” said Michelle Wilson, Amadeus’ Head of Site Pacific, who hosted the day. “You can be part of creating the future of travel. Not just using it.”
And the girls? They were hooked. They absorbed everything from coding microcontrollers to learning about lean manufacturing (which sounds a bit like a weight-loss plan for robots but is actually how modern industries optimise production). The highlight? Brainstorming real-world aviation solutions like mini engineers with lipstick and attitude.
From Liverpool to Lift-Off: Stories That Stick
Future flight commanders and tech titans strike a pose before changing the world.
One student from Liverpool Girls High leaned over during a robotics session and told me: “I always thought airports were boring. I had no idea you could do this stuff.”
Well, love, now you know—and it’s anything but boring. It’s a digital customer experience. It’s sustainable aviation. It’s smart infrastructure. It’s jobs that haven’t been invented yet. And yes, it’s probably the first time many of these girls felt like they belonged in a lab—not just on TikTok.
The program is as much about representation as it is about education. Because let’s be honest—if you’ve never seen someone like you behind the controls, you might never believe it’s an option.
This initiative matters because it’s not just a feel-good PR stunt or another box ticked for diversity. It’s a heartfelt attempt to change the narrative and give girls the sense that they, too, can build, code, fly, and lead.
More Than a Terminal: A Movement in the Making
WSI is set to open in late 2026 and offer domestic, international, and air cargo services around the clock. But long before the first plane takes off, the airport has already made its mark—not with concrete and cranes but with conviction and community spirit.
They’re working with TAFE NSW, Western Sydney University, and others to ensure local talent has the training and tools to step into the future. And this initiative, my friends, is the boarding gate.
Peter’s prediction? Give it five years, and one of these girls will be coding your check-in system, managing your aircraft maintenance database, or better yet—running the whole bloody airport.
Final Boarding Call: Futures Are Being Built
So, hats off to WSI and Amadeus. This wasn’t a morning tea and a PowerPoint. It was a proper, old-fashioned, roll-up-your-sleeves, shape-the-future kind of initiative. And the students? They walked away not just with knowledge but with possibility.
Because when you give a girl a glimpse of what she could be—engineer, innovator, creator—you don’t just change her day. You might change her life.
And as for me? I haven’t been this hopeful about the future of airports since they brought back complimentary peanuts.
By Sandra Jones
