“I’ve never met a pilot before, and now there’s one making me tea!”

Clapping for our amazing NHS workers on a Thursday night has become the highlight of the week. With staff members working increasingly long hours and putting their own safety at risk, top airlines are rallying in support.

Project Wingman is initiative for Airline Crew to volunteer their services and support the front line NHS. So far, carriers signed up to the scheme include easyJet, British Airways, Norwegian, Virgin Atlantic, TUI, Jet2 and Loganair.

From manning a lounge for healthcare workers to unwind, to arranging special deliveries to hospitals around the UK, Project Wingman and its +2000 strong volunteer base of uniformed professionals are on hand to help out.

After successfully launching at The Whittington Hospital in North London on 3 April, the initiative has now been extended across the UK and is set to land in Glasgow on 25 April.

It seems there are no limits to creativity, even “flying” Morwenna Hodin, healthcare worker at St George’s Trust in Tooting, to Cape Town isn’t out of the question!

Billal Draifi, a member of Norwegian’s long haul cabin crew, is in charge of training and induction for volunteers.

He said: “Frontline NHS staff are doing an incredible job under immense pressure and we are doing everything that we can to support and help them throughout this unprecedented situation.”

After the success in the UK, Project Wingman is looking to expand to US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. It is so great to see the impact they are having for our frontline workers and we hope to see more surprise birthdays like Heidi’s over the next few weeks #TogetherWeStand