Flying Above the Glass Ceiling
Captain Nina AndersonIn 1911, a crisp new copy of Detroit Free Press was delivered to hundreds of recipients who eagerly perused an article on a controversial issue. The newspaper had asked its readers a simple question in light of recent nationwide events: “Ought women to aviate?” The newspaper was flooded with responses, and one of them was from aviator Claude Graham-White, who provided a short and emphatic answer: “NO!”
The British pilot who had a handful of students argued his case. Women were prone to panic and would make dangerous and unfit pilots, placing themselves and others at serious risk. Others argued that for a woman to fly, the glory of flight would be stripped forever from men. In a period of history where females were deterred from flight training and even prohibited from flying as passengers, a select group of women slipped through the ropes and began learning to be the master and commander of an aircraft.
In these times, simply making a to and from flight awarded you a golden status, turning one innocent human into a sudden, unexpected her o: a pioneer of the skies, an eagle among sparrows, a modern day and slightly more successful Icarus. Fueled by insecurity and fearful of losing their freshly attained glory, some men even risked the lives of the women who lusted after their sport. Young Melli Beese discovered her aircraft to be partially drained of fuel during her flight test, the actions of multiple male pilots at the airport. When Elinor Smith pursued her pilot’s license, the world believed she was male for several months as a result of her careful disguises, before she shucked her hair-covering cap and began performing as a female stunt pilot.
Despite of, and likely further fueled by, the adversity accompanying this fresh passion, women soon made their way not only into the passenger seat of a flying machine, but into the cockpit as well. However, the footprints of this sexual animosity did not completely fade: even in the 1980’s, airline companies were often advised against hiring females. Wives of pilots were not fond of their husbands spending so much time with female coworkers. Many were especially wary of layovers--in both the literal and figurative sense--and airlines tried as best they could to completely skirt the situation and tactfully skip female resumes.
The glass ceiling appeared as a popular phrase in the 1970’s, referring to an invisible barrier presented to minorities, generally women, as they attempted to climb the corporate ladder or other predominately male endeavors. In 1991, the Department of Labor even issued a formal definition: “artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified individuals from advancing upward in their organization into management-level positions.” When retired airline captain Nina Anderson decided to compile a book of corporate female pilots, she named it “Flying Above the Glass Ceiling.”
As a woman myself, and a passionate flyer since a child, I am wary of many feminist approaches. I view myself as a person and as a person only, traveling a human journey in the fullest way possible. I like to congratulate a person on their accomplishments and not their sex; however, these women’s journeys were hard enough to begin with and made only more difficult by legitimate discrimination.
Anderson’s 136-page compilation spans the personal story excerpts from women riding in the color-drenched hot air balloons of the eighteenth century to modern day airline pilots, and the hodgepodge of unexpected tasks entailed in their everyday work lives. Meet Emily Howell Warner, first female pilot for Frontier Airlines, who had worked as a flight instructor and chief pilot before accomplishing the positions of flight school manager and FAA examiner. When she first applied as an airline pilot in the 1960’s with 7,000 hours of flight time under her belt, the Director of Flight Operations warned her that her resume and qualifications were satisfactory, but that “I don’t know if an airline will ever hire a woman.” However, as Warner persisted, she was offered a fair chance to prove her abilities and withstood a series of tests including an exhausting two-hour flight simulator where her each and every move was carefully scrutinized. On January 29, 1973, Warner attended her first class to become a pilot for Frontier Airlines.
Bonnie Tiburzi, first female pilot with American Airlines and the first female in the world to achieve a Flight Engineer rating on an airline, took her first flight lesson at the same age I did--12. At just 20 years of age she worked as a charter co-pilot and soon worked her way up to employment as a captain for American Airlines, despite a bevy of passenger comments questioning her ability to fly the aircraft. Signs were even modified for her presence: a sign on a crew lounge read the standard line: “Male Crew Members Only”. Accompanying the sign was a handwritten postscript: “And Bonnie, too”.
Each chapter contains a 2-3 page profile of a female in the business of corporate aviation, accompanied by modest photos and average writing. Published by Safe Goods, the book is available at Amazon.com, select bookstores, or by visiting www.safegoodspub.com. Average writing and presentation, but an honorable tribute, Flying Above the Glass Ceiling includes adventure and humor, and would make an adequate gift for an aspiring corporate aviating female.
Book reviewer Brigit Hartop can be reached at flying-girl@lycos.com.