Photo: Supplied.
When Deborah Lawrie fought for her right to be the first female airline pilot for a major airline in Australia, she wasn’t just fighting for a job. She fought – and won – the right for women to challenge illogical boundaries that had limited their career opportunities. It’s been said that she didn’t just break the glass ceiling, she flew right through it. Despite triggering the first contested equal opportunity anti-discrimination case in Australia, Deborah didn’t see herself as a trailblazer; she just wanted to fly.
“My father had a lifelong ambition to learn to fly. When I was 14, I’d go with him to the airport, and I got interested in the theory side of it. He gave me two flying lessons for my sixteenth birthday. I wasn’t really enamoured with it, but I kept going to prove I could go solo. Once I went solo, I caught the bug.”
Deborah followed the normal progression of a career in aviation, from charter pilot to instructor, but hit resistance at the next usual step – piloting for an airline. “Women weren’t welcome in the airlines in those days.”
That was stating it mildly. Deborah’s determination led to her taking Ansett Airlines to court in a landmark legal battle that progressed all the way to the High Court. Because it was the first case of its kind in Australia, Deborah’s barrister had to reference overseas judgments in similar trials.
“It was new ground for everybody. I was warned that it could get very nasty, but there was no other road. If I’d given up, I would have lost everything, so I just kept at it.”
There is an exquisite irony in Sydney Airport’s naming the flyover connecting the International and Domestic terminals in her honour. It sits over Sir Reginald Ansett Drive.
Other women in the industry were intensely supportive of having a woman on the flight deck, and even beyond the aviation industry, it opened the door for a lot of women in other areas.
Safety has always been a focus for Deborah; she has held positions of Flight Safety Manager, Chief Flight Safety Investigator, chair of a European Safety Working Group, and member of the IATA Aircraft Accident Working Group. Amongst other awards, she was presented with the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame Award in 2022.
So after 50-plus years in planes, what does Deborah see as the attributes of a good pilot?
“Attention to detail, being able to maintain the big picture, spatial awareness, a working knowledge of maths and physics – and passion. People who are passionate about it make good pilots.”
Deborah Lawrie AM will present her memoir Touching the Sky on Wednesday, 22 April 2026, from 10:00am to 11:00am, at Cleveland Library.
