Captain Georgina Sutton has become one of the world’s most successful female pilots, having been made Jetstar’s chief pilot for Australia and New Zealand yesterday.
With the aviation industry still heavily dominated by men, female pilots are few and far between. In fact, they make up fewer than 10% of pilots across all of Australia’s major airlines. For Sutton’s own airline, that figure is only 4.5%.
Ansett became the first major Australian airline to hire a female pilot only thirty-five years ago.
There are currently very few other women anywhere in the world holding the job of chief pilot. Captain Davina Pratt retired from her position as chief pilot of Ireland’s Aer Lingus in 2010, after becoming the airline’s first ever female pilot at the beginning of her career in 1977.
In September of this year, American Airlines appointed Captain Kathi Durst as the chief pilot of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where she overseas America’s largest pilot base.
Sutton has a history of breaking records for women in aviation. She became the first female captain of the Boeing 747 fleet earlier this year, meaning she was already the high-ranking Australian woman in aviation before yesterday’s promotion.
“Georgina has demonstrated strengths in leadership, technical expertise, operations and shares our strong focus on safety,” Jetstar’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive David Hall said.
Sutton began her career with Qantas in 1989, when she was hired to become a second officer for the same fleet. At the time, the Boeing 747 was the largest airliner in the world.
Before she entered aviation, Sutton was in the South Australian Police Force, meaning she had experience working in male-dominated spaces.
“I think I’d had exposure to a broad range of demographics and working in a fairly non-traditional role, so I was well prepared for that,” she told Fairfax Media in February.
Sutton knew she wanted a career in aviation from a very young age, but recognised it was difficult field to break into, especially for women. She now dedicates a lot of time to speaking to school-aged children about the life of a pilot, and encouraging them to consider a career in aviation.
Jennifer Graham of the Australian Women’s Pilots Association thinks things are changing for female pilots.
“Women are more than capable of standing on their own two feet, setting goals and achieving them, in this case achieving the various licences and endorsements and ratings as pilots,” she said.