Judy Cameron still remembers getting the telegram that marked her first offer to fly planes for a major commercial carrier.
Pacific Western Airlines had come calling, writing her a 91裸聊视频渃ongratulations91裸聊视频� and inviting her to sit down with the interview board.
91裸聊视频淲hen I walked into the room, everyone91裸聊视频檚 face was very distraught,91裸聊视频� Cameron recalled.
91裸聊视频淚t turned out that they had wanted to hire me, but it had been vetoed by someone higher up when they realized I was female.91裸聊视频�
Forty-five years later, Cameron 91裸聊视频� who was Air Canada91裸聊视频檚 first female pilot 91裸聊视频� has 23,000 hours of flying, a scholarship and an Order of Canada membership to her name.
91裸聊视频淪he91裸聊视频檚 a legend,91裸聊视频� said Air Canada captain Steve Rundle. Asked whether he knew of Cameron, he said, 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 like asking a hockey player if they know Wayne Gretzky.91裸聊视频�
After a fulfilling 40-year career, Cameron recalls the struggles she faced in the early years and the efforts still needed to encourage more young women to enter aviation 91裸聊视频� especially the cockpit, which remains extremely male-dominated.
As of January, nearly eight per cent of Air Canada91裸聊视频檚 pilots were women 91裸聊视频� better than the U.S. average of 4.9 per cent, according to a 2022 report from the Centre for Aviation, an Australia-based market research firm.
The figure is also much higher than the tally just a few decades back, when female flight crew stood out glaringly.
91裸聊视频淚 walked into the lunchroom one day and there were 2,000 people,91裸聊视频� Cameron said of her first month at the airline in 1978. 91裸聊视频淓verybody just stopped talking and stared at me.91裸聊视频�
Kick-starting her career
Cameron developed a taste for adrenalin early on, buying a motorcycle in Grade 12 and later riding her Honda hog to the University of British Columbia most days, 91裸聊视频渆ven in the rain.91裸聊视频�
After her first year studying arts, she found a summer job interviewing pilots at small airports for a Transport Canada survey. On her first day in 1973, one of them invited her to hop on board.
91裸聊视频淗e did a lot of aerobatic manoeuvres that shouldn91裸聊视频檛 have been demonstrated,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淏ut after I finished screaming, I decided I really loved this.91裸聊视频�
Cameron dropped out of UBC and applied to a two-year aviation program at Selkirk College. 91裸聊视频淚 got on my motorcycle and drove eight hours to Castlegar 91裸聊视频� and when I got there the head of the aviation program had a motorbike. That91裸聊视频檚 probably how I got into the course.91裸聊视频�
Raised by a single mother in Vancouver, Cameron had grown up in a one-room apartment. Television and cars were luxuries they couldn91裸聊视频檛 afford.
91裸聊视频淭he best part was my mom always encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do. She never held me back.91裸聊视频�
When Cameron flew her first passenger, in a two-seat, single-engine Cessna 150 training aircraft, it was her mom in the seat beside her.
College wasn91裸聊视频檛 an easy time. 91裸聊视频淚t was hard, doing my training and being in a classroom full of guys. I was always the odd one out,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t was so isolating.91裸聊视频�
Professional pilot
Following graduation, Cameron found pilot work at a pulp and paper company in 1975, but the board of directors wouldn91裸聊视频檛 let her fly. She wound up helping with dispatch and office management, occasionally managing to get a flight in when a subsidiary operated the plane.
After switching to a job as a passenger agent at B.C.91裸聊视频檚 Airwest Airlines 91裸聊视频� with infrequent turns in the cockpit 91裸聊视频� Cameron was eventually hired by a small regional service in Slave Lake, Alta., where she flew a Douglas DC-3 airliner 91裸聊视频� a big break, due to the larger size of the plane.
Four months later, the company went bankrupt 91裸聊视频� the paycheques bounced 91裸聊视频� and executives at the carrier that took over its routes weren91裸聊视频檛 thrilled about her presence. 91裸聊视频淭he chief pilot there basically didn91裸聊视频檛 want to hire me. But he said, 91裸聊视频楢t least the big airlines won91裸聊视频檛 hire you.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
The airline stationed her in Inuvik, N.W.T., and proceeded to lay her off. She was later rehired as a dispatcher and allowed to fly periodically.
By 1978, Air Canada considered her application, eventually offering her a job.
91裸聊视频淚 got a call from the vice-president of operations the week before I started, and he wanted to point out rather seriously that if I got pregnant, I wouldn91裸聊视频檛 be allowed to fly,91裸聊视频� she recalled. 91裸聊视频淚 wasn91裸聊视频檛 married at the time and I had no family plans 91裸聊视频� I didn91裸聊视频檛 know what to say.91裸聊视频�
Overall, though, she said the experience was positive and the pilots respectful, some of them serving as mentors.
READ ALSO:
Trials of a (con)trailblazer
However, the company was no exception to the years-long failure of most airlines to provide uniforms for pregnant crew members, including Cameron in 1984. The shortcoming was a milder example of some of the gender inequalities that persisted at various carriers into the 1970s, including strict weight limits, age ceilings and marriage bans for flight attendants.
91裸聊视频淢y last child was born in 1990, and I never had a maternity uniform,91裸聊视频� she said with a wry chuckle. Instead, her mother-in-law sewed epaulettes onto her husband91裸聊视频檚 dress shirt and a panel into a pair of Cameron91裸聊视频檚 pants.
91裸聊视频淥fficially, I was unaware of the fact I was pregnant until the second trimester,91裸聊视频� Cameron said. Transport Department rules banned pregnant pilots from flying except for three months in the middle of their term.
Today, Air Canada aviators may be asked to submit a note from their doctor every two weeks confirming they are fit to fly, starting in the 20th week of pregnancy. Pilots are considered fit to fly until week 30, 91裸聊视频渋n the case of a normal pregnancy,91裸聊视频� according to Transport Canada regulations.
Many of Air Canada91裸聊视频檚 410 female pilots 91裸聊视频� out of 5,230 in total 91裸聊视频� see Cameron as an inspiration.
91裸聊视频淛udy91裸聊视频檚 always been a mentor to female pilots,91裸聊视频� said Elaine Bradbury, who first met her at Seneca College in 1981, when Cameron instructed visiting students on a flight simulator.
Later, Bradbury flew alongside her on an Airbus A320 jet and a Boeing 777 airliner.
91裸聊视频淚t was just nice to talk to another woman who had succeeded,91裸聊视频� Bradbury said. 91裸聊视频淚t gave us hope and encouragement to see someone like that. She always said just keep on going, it91裸聊视频檚 there for the taking if you want it.91裸聊视频�
Passing the torch
Since retiring in 2015, Cameron has barely slowed down. The Oakville, Ont., resident has taken a course on aerobatics 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频渓oops and rolls and Cuban eights91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� in Florida. And she91裸聊视频檚 actively involved in the Air Canada scholarship program in her name. Launched in 2019 and backed partly by CAE, the fund helped support 13 young women training to become pilots or aircraft maintenance engineers last year, granting them $5,000 apiece.
Education in the sector is notoriously expensive.
91裸聊视频淚t costs $100,000 today to get all your licences in Canada,91裸聊视频� said Murray Strom, Air Canada91裸聊视频檚 vice-president of flight operations.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not typically a profession that attracts the wide range of Canadians that we have, it doesn91裸聊视频檛 represent our community,91裸聊视频� he said. The scholarships work to offset that imbalance.
Last year, 12 per cent of new pilot licences issued in Canada went to women, according to the Institute for Women of Aviation Worldwide.
Cameron also serves as a director on the Northern Lights Aero Foundation, which offers mentorship and highlights women91裸聊视频檚 achievements in aviation.
91裸聊视频淯ntil we started doing it, there was no recognition in the aviation community,91裸聊视频� said Anna Pangrazzi, who founded the organization in 2009 and runs Apex Airplane Sales out of Ontario91裸聊视频檚 Buttonville airport north of Toronto.
91裸聊视频淛udy, she91裸聊视频檚 kind of a trailblazer.91裸聊视频�
Pangrazzi recalls piloting a small Cessna with her as a passenger a few years back.
91裸聊视频淲e took off from Buttonville and I wanted to put the autopilot on, and she goes, 91裸聊视频榃hat are you doing?91裸聊视频� She wanted to hand-fly it all the way to Kingston91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� more than 200 kilometres.
In short, Cameron helped a friend seize the controls and chart a course, something she91裸聊视频檚 grown into after decades in the cockpit.
91裸聊视频淪he was very precise on the altitude and the heading91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� the direction the nose is pointed 91裸聊视频� Pangrazzi remembered.
91裸聊视频淎ll the way.91裸聊视频�
READ ALSO:
READ ALSO:
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
