Electric air taxis flying over London by 2029? It’s closer than you think.

Adam Pacifico sits down with Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace the British company that just became one of only two in the world to achieve full aircraft transition (taking off like a helicopter, flying
like a plane, and landing like a helicopter again). With 1,500 aircraft
pre-sold to American Airlines, Japan Airlines and others, this is no
longer science fiction.

But this conversation goes far beyond flying taxis. Stuart opens up
about what it really takes to lead a breakthrough company from his
unlikely start in medicine, to restructuring businesses in the 1990s
recession, to leading Royal Mail through Covid, to now building an
entirely new industry from the ground up.

In this episode:
✅ How Vertical Aerospace achieved what no other company had done for a fraction of competitors’ budgets
✅ Stuart’s 3-horizon plan: prototype → certify → industrialise
✅ Why he deliberately wasn’t there for the historic transition milestone
✅ Creating a culture where people give discretionary effort willingly
✅ The infrastructure challenge of urban air mobility
✅ What leadership Legacy actually means

Canary Wharf to Heathrow in 9 minutes. JFK to Manhattan in 7.
The future of city Travel is being built right now.

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Adam Pacifico The Leadership Enigma

Adam Pacifico is the host of the award winning, globally ranked podcast, The Leadership Enigma. He has spent 3 decades experiencing and exploring the best and worst of human behaviour in his various roles as a barrister defending and prosecuting in the criminal courts and as an operational police officer on the streets of London. He is insatiably curious and continues looking for the differentiators as to who, how and why people out perform in leadership roles. He is the author of 'The Leader's Secret Code' (shortlisted for business book of the year) and had delivered events nationally and internationally to over 60,000 people.

His passion for leadership is based on advice from his mentor: 'The children of the people you lead will know your name, in what context is up to you.'