The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) today celebrated their “impactful” reps, Company Council and industrial campaign at their Annual Delegates’ Conference in Heathrow. 

The awards were given to:
Captain Simon Wilkinson – Representative of the year
Stefan Episkopou – Flight Safety Rep of the year
Loganair Company Council – Company Council of the year
DHL Air UK Company Council – for Industrial Campaign of the year
Lifetime Achievement Award – Frank Epstein 

Captain Simon Wilkinson 

Simon won the coveted Representative of the Year award for outstanding member advocacy. He has led the Norse UK pilot body through arguably the most volatile operational and corporate environment in UK commercial aviation this year. Facing the looming threat of restructure, cost-cutting measures, and aggressive management attempts to impose individual contract variations, Simon has consistently put member interests first. He has personally handled complex individual casework while steering collective resistance, ensuring that no individual pilot faced management pressure in isolation.  

Across the year he fought off management overreach, built relationships with sister pilot unions. He has been praised for his calm fact-based communications, which cut through management spin. 

Stefan Episkopou 

Stefan leads the Accident Analysis & Prevention (AAP) team within the Flight Safety Committee (FSC) of BALPA. His leadership has grown the AAP into a highly proactive and influential team not only within BALPA but on the wider national and international Flight Safety stage.  

The AAP team have an enviable relationship with both the AAIB and the UKFSC, a relationship with the former that has taken several years and highly diplomatic liaison on Stefan’s part to form an effective investigative process, proving beneficial to the AAIB’s investigative processes, the BALPA members involved, and UK flight safety as a whole.  

Loganair 

The Loganair Company Council won the BALPA ADC 2026 Company Council of the Year Award in recognition of an exceptional year of teamwork, innovation, professionalism and commitment to BALPA members. 

Over the past year, the Council has successfully navigated complex pay negotiations, multiple restructuring exercises, a significant network review, contractual recognition challenges, fleet transitions, lifestyle and rostering issues, and substantial organisational change. Throughout these challenges, the Council has consistently demonstrated a member-led, evidence-based and collaborative approach to representation.  

What distinguishes this Council is not just the outcomes it has delivered, but the way in which it has transformed representation at Loganair. Through strategic leadership, strong teamwork and a focus on sustainable development, Angela MacDonald, Maarten Vanheuverswyn, Paul Thomason and Daniel Dewar have built a highly effective representative structure that is stronger, more resilient and better equipped to support pilots than at any point in recent years.  

DHL Air UK Company Council for “Making Aviation Sustainable” 

DHL Company Council secured significant gains on their maternity policy in February 2026, delivering two months extra full pay (taking paid maternity leave to six months in total), paid time off for all fertility treatments (not just IVF), new rights for surrogate parents and phased return to work formalised within the policy. These improved policies will benefit women pilots at DHL and help members balance career with family life.   

They have built their campaigns through creative messaging, membership meetings and infographics to develop insight across the membership. Their impact in making careers in aviation more inclusive, wellbeing-focused and sustainable has rippled across the sector. 

Frank Epstein 

Frank has been a BALPA member throughout his career, and a rep since the early 1990s, He has served as a BALPA Flight Safety Rep and an AAP member for many decades, receiving his IFALPA accreditation on 28 February 1998. 

He has devoted his spare time to specialist accident investigation support and worked extensively with IFALPA, as one of the top 5 longest serving accredited reps worldwide. Within the AAP Frank has covered both technical and member support work and been instrumental in training up the next generation. 

Acting General Secretary Zorah Francis said, “I feel very proud to be celebrating our impactful reps at our Annual Conference. Simon, Stefan, Frank, and the Company Councils of Loganair and DHL have worked hard,  

“Everything they have achieved in the last year and throughout their rep career reflects the high professional standards we hold ourselves to in BALPA.