He built robots. Then he built an airline.
Long before he ever held a control yoke, Henry Woodward was building things. In a garage workshop in Brisbane, he designed and sold robots — clever little machines that did big things. They made him a fortune most people only dream of.
But Henry never cared much for fortunes. He cared about the horizon. About the way a runway disappears under the nose of an aircraft, and the whole world opens up in front of you.
So he did exactly that. Henry poured every cent of his robotics fortune into a single, audacious idea — a Brisbane airline that would treat the skies like a playground and every passenger like family. Today he isn't just the owner. He's the Chief Pilot, often the very person welcoming you aboard and guiding the aircraft to Nadi himself.
Woodward Air, Brisbane
The Robot Years
Henry builds and sells a fleet of ingenious robots from a Brisbane garage — and earns a fortune.
The Big Bet
He cashes it all in. Every dollar goes into one aircraft and the dream of flight.
Wheels Up
Woodward Air's first service lifts off from Brisbane, bound for the islands of Fiji.
The Chief Pilot
Henry flies the line himself — 42 destinations, one unmistakable blue 'W' on the tail.
This was Henry in his first plane.
Before the wide-bodies and the daily Nadi run, there was a shed, a half-built airframe, and a boy who couldn't stop grinning in the cockpit. He hadn't flown a metre yet — but he already knew exactly where he was going.
“I never got out of that seat. I just kept building a bigger plane around it.” — Henry Woodward
