Firsts in Commercial Flight: Barrier Breaking Women in the Flight Deck – National Air and Space Museum

This is your captain, making history. Meet the first women tofly forcommercial airlines and discover their stories.

In1969,TuriWiderebecame the firstwoman to work as acommercial airline pilot for a major airlinein the Western world.Widereflew for Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).

Widereearned her private pilots license in 1962 and her commercial license in 1965. In 1968, she joined SAS where she was enrolled in the companys flight academy. After graduating, she was certified as a co-pilot ontheConvair440 Metropolitan,making history.

Emily Howell Warner was thefirstwoman hired to permanently flyfor a scheduled U.S. passenger airline.

She took her first airplane ridein 1958at age17 and immediately decided on aviation as a career.She worked as a receptionist at Clinton Aviation Flying School to pay for her $13-a-week flying lessons, which took 1/3 of her paycheck.By 1960, she had a private pilotslicense and a job as a flying traffic reporter, sometimes working 14 hours a day by cramming a full-time office job in between morning and evening flights. A year later she became a certified flight instructor at Clinton Aviation Company in Denver, Colorado, and was promoted to flight-school manager and chief pilot.

She began applying for airline jobs at Frontier, United, and Continental beginning in 1968.After she turned 30, she lost all hope of being hired, especially after watching her own former students(all men)being hired. Finally, in January 1973, Frontierhired her as a pilot.

Warnerinitially flew as a first officer onConvair580s and de Havilland Twin Otters. In 1976, she became the firstwoman to be aU.S. airline captain, flying a Twin Otter. Warner then became captain of a Boeing 727 forUPS.

In 1974, she became the first womanto jointhe Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). In 1990, she retired from UPS to become a Federal Aviation Administration examiner.

Bonnie Tiburzi, hired a few months after Emily Howell Warner,became the first American woman to fly for a major United Statesairlinewhen she wasjoinedAmerican Airlines in 1973. She was only 24 at the time.

Tiburzis first job was as a flight instructor and charter pilot, until she joined American Airlines in 1973. She was likely inspired by her father, who was a commercial pilot with SAS and TWA, and later owned his own charter company and flight school, Tiburzi Airways.

Tiburzi retired from aviation in the late 1990s after 26 years.

MLisWard, a captain for United Airlines, is the firstAfricanAmericanwoman captain in commercial passenger aviation.

Ward was inspired by her mother, who was the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Chicago medical school, remarking When you see a mom can accomplish something like that, you think you can do anything.

Wardjoined the Air Force ROTC incollege, andwent on to join the Air Force after graduation where she was an instructor pilot for C141.

InNovember 1992,she joinedUnited Airlines in Chicagowhereshe was a second officer on DC-10s.Shethenrose through the ranks to become captain.

This content was migrated from an earlier online exhibit, Women in Aviation and Space History, which shared the stories of the women featured in theMuseum in the early 2000s.

Go here to see the original:
Firsts in Commercial Flight: Barrier Breaking Women in the Flight Deck - National Air and Space Museum