Criticised for taking a “man’s job”: What women in aviation have had to overcome.

Aviation is an industry that really loves its pioneers. It’s probably because there have always been plenty of physical boundaries to push.

But women in aviation have had to overcome a lot of artificial barriers as well. And the stories sound ridiculous today. It’s something worth thinking about on International Women’s Day.

It took decades before commercial airlines would even let women become pilots. And it was tough going once they did. One of the first in America was confronted with a letter from the wife of a male pilot who had missed out on a job at the same airline; the wife wanted to know how she felt about stealing her husband’s job. The female pilot wrote back to say she hoped the wife had sent the same letter to all the male pilots recruited alongside her (it wasn’t, but well played). 

Right through to the late 1970s, some airlines had rules that two women couldn’t be in charge of a commercial airliner. A man had to be there in case something went “wrong”. There’s a great story about how this taboo was broken during a big storm, and because of a lack of alternatives two women were allowed to fly an aircraft without a man – provided they didn’t open the cockpit door or make any announcements.

So, progress was a game of inches.

It took Qantas until 1984 to have its first female pilots. Bizarre to think that’s in living memory for most of us. The very first, Sharelle Quinn and Ann Bennett, still fly with us now as 747 Captains. 

Even today, women make up just 3 per cent of the world’s pilots. At Qantas, it’s 5 per cent. At our regional carrier QantasLink, which is a typical entry point for new pilots, it’s around 15 per cent. All these numbers are far too low given women are half of the global talent pool.

We’ve set clear targets for increasing the number of female pilots – to at least 40 per cent of our intake by 2028. And we’re doing practical things to get there, which centre mostly on encouraging young girls to consider aviation as a career (whether that’s as a pilot or an engineer or in other parts of our business).

That’s why role models are so important. We’re fortunate to have a lot of very talented women at the Qantas Group, from our Board, to my management team and right through our ranks. Our inaugural Perth-London flight last year was Captained by one of our most senior pilots, Lisa Norman.

It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come. And how far we have to go.