Wendy Littlejohn - P.A. to, Director of Cabair Helicopters Ltd,
and Group Aircraft Sales Manager - Simon Cooper

Ever thought about finding a secretarial job with a difference?... Well think about working at a private airfield - Wendy Littlejohn works at the Head Office of 'The Cabair Group' based at Elstree Airfield, (also the home of Capital Radio's Flying Eye) and she is nothing short of passionate about coming to work…. Read on and you'll understand why.

"There is something incredibly exhilarating about working at an airfield - there's nothing quite like sitting in my car mid morning/afternoon on a break and watching the aircraft taking off and landing"

After having been made redundant, Wendy stumbled across the job through a temping agency whilst her predecessor was on maternity leave.
"I had only been there a few weeks when I found myself hoping and praying she wouldn't want to come back to work once having had the baby. I had fallen in-love with my job!!".
Her wish was granted and she is now in her third year.

Wendy is P.A. to Simon Cooper, Director of Cabair Helicopters Ltd. - the UK's leading charter aircraft service and he is also Group Aircraft Sales Manager.

Once a sale has been secured, one aspect of Wendy's job is to ensure that the paperwork is in order ready to hand over to the new owner.

"We work as a great team - Simon is the genius who completes the deal and I do all the behind the scenes administration"

This includes dealing with initial sales enquiries, complying with Civil Aviation Authority regulations, which are extremely paper-intensive e.g.: change of ownership, CAA certificates for the aircraft, correct licenses. Accuracy when completing the documentation is of paramount importance.

There is a sense of glamour working in the aviation industry. On one occasion a purchaser, so thrilled with his new acquisition, he invited Wendy to celebrate with him by taking her for lunch…not at the local café but in France! She also meets many interesting, wealthy and successful people including celebrities who are learning to fly.

I wondered whether Wendy (who is out-going and vivacious and certainly not your 'stay at home' type of girl!) had any ambitions to learn to fly herself to which she replied:

"I am slowly learning to fly at the moment, taking opportunities wherever possible - flying is not a cheap hobby and you need a vast quantity of hours to obtain a license".

Wendy does however, have lots of opportunity to go up in the aeroplanes and helicopters through her work, flying to and from exhibitions Cabair attend during the year - another of her pleasurable duties is to load passengers on to helicopters for Pleasure flights, British Grand Prix and Tours over London.

Back in the office, more traditional secretarial duties include typing correspondence and answering the 'phone but Wendy confesses that;

"Rather than running Simon's diary, at times it is more a case of stealing it away from him to find out what he is up to!".

When asked if there was one extra skill that would benefit her job, her answer was surprisingly enough shorthand! Simon, her boss, tends to pace the room whilst dictating letters and although she has developed her own style of shorthand, the real thing would be much better, however she has been unable to find a course locally to attend.

Since joining Cabair, Wendy has been bitten by the bug and has become a real plane enthusiast - in her spare time she often goes to Heathrow on a covert 'plane-spotting' exercise - her favorite aircraft she tells me is a 'B1 Bomber' which in her words is

"The most sexiest aeroplane, closely followed by Concorde".

Wendy admitted to one other passion she found at Elstree - she was swept off her feet by a dashing flying instructor….could it be that 'Love is In the Air!'

Bio -Claire Portman has a background in direct sales, marketing and senior account management, she is also a working Mum! She joined the DeskDemon team earlier this year as the Sales & Marketing Manager.

Day In The Life Series: We are always interested to hear from senior P.A.'s, or people that work in a particularly interesting environment or have a very special story to tell - if that is you, send a short message via email to cportman@deskdemon.com and we will be in touch!