Sir Patrick Stewart's passing made me reflect on something I had never quite put into words. We have lost more than a remarkable actor.

Long before I ever sat in a captain's seat myself, I had already spent years watching someone who taught me what it meant to be one.

Growing up in the 1990s, I was enthralled by Star Trek: The Next Generation. Each week, I followed the crew of the USS Enterprise on a 45-minute journey into the unknown, unaware how much those stories would stay with me.

TNG was far more than entertaining science fiction. Beneath its strange worlds and civilisations were questions about philosophy, ethics, consciousness and moral dilemmas that had no easy answers. Rather a lot for a boy to think about, but perhaps that was what made it so compelling.

At the centre of it all stood Captain Jean-Luc Picard. A genuine Renaissance man: intellectual, well-read, curious and diplomatic. Someone who listened and respected other views, but stood firm when his principles were at stake. He wasn't infallible or always easy to deal with. That only made him more human.

Looking back, I can't help wondering whether Picard had quietly become a role model for the captain I would one day hope to be.

Thirty years later, I find myself in the left-hand seat of a Boeing 747, working with crews from all walks of life. My Enterprise is a little less advanced, and our missions a little closer to home. But listening, keeping a cool head, knowing when to compromise or stand firm, and taking responsibility for your decisions... those lessons feel surprisingly familiar, though it has taken me years to realise why.

It's strange to realise how the things that inspire us as children, and the choices we make along the way, can quietly shape the course of our lives.

Sir Patrick Stewart gave Picard a presence and dignity that made him utterly believable. I never met the man. But through his portrayal of a fictional captain on a fictional starship, he helped shape some of the values I still carry with me whenever I step onto the flight deck.

Thank you, Sir Patrick, for making him real enough to matter.