AIPA ‘Stick With It’

Send us Fan Mail
Chris Fleer was a fit, healthy Qantas pilot when he collapsed in his backyard mid-workout and went into sudden cardiac arrest. He was clinically dead for 11 minutes.

What kept him alive was a chain of near-impossible luck: his wife — an architect with zero medical training — started CPR she'd absorbed from watching Bondi Rescue, a neighbour who'd never done CPR leapt off his balcony to take over, and paramedics revived him on the fourth defib shock. His survival odds that day were 0.2%.

In this episode, Chris sits down to talk about the day he died and everything that came after: the four shocks that brought him back, the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest, the hidden genetic heart condition no one could have caught, the defibrillator now implanted under his skin, and the five long years of uncertainty as he fought to understand what happened. He's candid about losing his aviation medical, leaning on PAN & AIPA Welfare peer support and therapy, rebuilding both his career and his outlook, and explaining why he now says he's a better person for it.

CHAPTERS
0:00  Intro
0:28  Dead for 11 minutes
01:10  The morning it happened
03:51  Waking up in hospital
04:12  His wife's life-saving CPR
08:36  "Superman" jumps the fence
12:22 The ambulance & four defib shocks
14:02 Heart attack vs cardiac arrest
15:46 A 0.2% survival rate
16:46 Life after death & the pilot mindset
20:37 Two weeks of tests & the defib implant
25:38 Dark days, peer support & therapy
29:01 His wife, the trauma & broken ribs
34:25 Losing his medical & fighting insurers
44:38 A new career in safety & no regrets

IN THIS EPISODE

- How bystander CPR and early defibrillation saved Chris's life
- Living with an implanted defibrillator
- Navigating the loss of a CASA aviation medical
- The role of peer support networks and mental health
Fly safe and stick with it.

Send us Fan Mail
In this episode, we're joined by Captain Ali Al-Wahabi, a pilot and instructor with more than forty years of airline experience. Over a remarkable career, Ali has flown for five major airlines across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, thriving in the kind of multicultural environments that have shaped both his flying and his outlook on life.

Ali graduated from Oxford Air Training College in 1976 and went on to fly the Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Airbus A320 and Airbus A330. He's a type rating examiner and instructor, as well as a CRM and simulator acceptance instructor. Alongside his flying, Ali holds a degree in psychology from the Australian College of Applied Psychology in Sydney, and is the author of several books. Today, he works with Qantas as a ground instructor.

Chapters:

0:00 Welcome & meet Ali Al-Wahhabi
0:51 Growing up in 1950s Baghdad
2:05 Training as a pilot & returning to Iraq
5:04 Saddam, oil money & the "golden crew"
7:35 Meeting Saddam face to face
11:48 The Al-Wahhabi name & living under surveillance
14:26 The impossible "mission" & deciding to defect
15:03 The defection flight & its twist
19:36 Freedom in London & the family left behind
26:49 Building a career: Malta, Hong Kong & a "fake German" passport
33:10 The Gulf War & facing discrimination
40:05 Culture, communication & teaching assertiveness
47:55 Retirement, forklifts & joining Qantas
53:19 Returning to Baghdad? & closing thanks

This is a fascinating conversation and a truly rare glimpse into a life lived at the sharp end of aviation history. We hope you enjoy!
Fly safe and stick with it.

Send us Fan Mail
Special bonus episode, recorded live in the legendary 747 Captain Cook Lounge at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach, QLD.
When Qantas took delivery of its first 747s in the 1970s, the upper deck "bump" behind the cockpit wasn't just for the cockpit crew — it housed the Captain Cook Lounge: seating for 15 passengers, a stand-up bar, and décor that should have come with a volume control.
Host Capt. Andrew Taylor sits down with Capt. Dave Thiess (ret) and Capt. Don Hill (ret) inside this very lounge to talk about the Qantas Founders Museum — the nostalgia, the pride, and the volunteers who keep its history alive — before diving deep into the origins of Qantas and the role it's played in shaping modern aviation.
Guests: Capt. Dave Thiess, Capt. Don Hill (ret)
Host: Capt. Andrew Taylor
Recorded at: Qantas Founders Museum, Longreach QLD — 747 Captain Cook Lounge
#Qantas #Aviation #747 #AviationHistory #QantasFoundersMuseum #PilotPodcast
Fly safe and stick with it.

Send us Fan Mail
As wealth grows, the questions that matter most start to change. In this episode, Robbie Parkinson and Stephen Furness from MGD Wealth explore how high earning professionals and families can think more strategically about building, managing and protecting wealth over time — moving beyond short-term performance and individual investments toward thoughtful portfolio construction, diversification and long-term decision making.

Stephen and Robbie unpack how sophisticated investors think about risk, return and opportunity on an after-tax basis, and why portfolios often evolve beyond traditional shares, cash and property as wealth increases. The conversation also explores the role private markets can play within a well-structured portfolio — not as speculative or exclusive investments, but as tools to improve resilience, flexibility and long-term optionality for individuals and families.

What we cover:
- How wealth objectives change as income and assets grow
- Why success in investing should be measured by outcomes, not benchmarks
- The difference between chasing returns and managing long-term risk
- Why diversification becomes more important as portfolios get larger
- How sophisticated investors think about asset allocation
- What private markets are and why they exist within portfolios
- The role of private markets in diversification and resilience
- Understanding risk beyond market volatility
- Why after-tax returns and structure matter more than headline performance
- Using wealth to create optionality — flexibility, choice and legacy

Whether you're navigating growing wealth for the first time or looking to refine an existing strategy, this episode offers a grounded, practical look at what it really takes to build wealth that lasts.

Financial disclaimer:
The above information is general information only and should not be taken as constituting professional advice from AIPA. AIPA does not refer its members to any individual financial institution, financial group or financial adviser, or endorse or recommend any individual financial institution, financial group or financial adviser, or endorse or make recommendations about any financial advice, product, plan or scheme. AIPA excludes any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a result of a person acting in reliance upon any information disseminated to AIPA members. If you require financial, legal and/or taxation advice, you should obtain your own independent, professional advice.
Fly safe and stick with it.

Send us Fan Mail
In this episode, we sit down with proud partners of AIPA, MGD Wealth, Nathan Huehne and Ian Fraser break down how lending strategy and wealth planning work together to build long-term financial success for airline pilots.

Nathan unpacks the lending side: how banks actually assess pilot income (base, allowances, overtime), current credit conditions, smart debt structuring, and the borrowing constraints unique to pilots.

Ian covers the wealth strategy side: financial stewardship, classifying good vs bad debt, using equity effectively, the power of compounding, and managing risk along the way.

What this episode covers:
- How lenders assess pilot income (base vs allowances vs overtime)
- Current lending environment (rates, APRA buffer, DTI limits)
- Managing borrowing capacity and credit constraints
- Financial stewardship and the role of discipline
- Good debt vs bad debt vs deductible debt
- Balancing mortgage repayment vs investing
- Equity release and structured borrowing
- Compounding returns and dollar-cost averaging
- Interest-only vs principal & interest strategies
- Risk management, buffers, and stress-testing
- Federal Budget impacts on pilots (tax, housing, super, cash flow)
- Real-world pilot scenarios and decision-making frameworks

Whether you're early in your flying career or sitting on equity and wondering what to do next, this episode gives you a practical framework for making debt and wealth work together — not against each other.

Financial disclaimer:
The above information is general information only and should not be taken as constituting professional advice from AIPA. AIPA does not refer its members to any individual financial institution, financial group or financial adviser, or endorse or recommend any individual financial institution, financial group or financial adviser, or endorse or make recommendations about any financial advice, product, plan or scheme. AIPA excludes any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a result of a person acting in reliance upon any information disseminated to AIPA members. If you require financial, legal and/or taxation advice, you should obtain your own independent, professional advice.
Fly safe and stick with it.