Aussie airlines have embraced International Women’s Day in 2024 with Virgin, Qantas, and Jetstar announcing all-female crews to steer the ship (or plane) today.

Deborah Lawrie AM and Paley Williams in the Virgin Australia cockpit

Captain Paley Williams and First Officer Deb Lawrie. (Supplied)

Australia’s first female pilot of a major airline, Deborah Lawrie AM, will today take the helm of a special Virgin Australia flight dispatched, operated, and managed by an all-female team in celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD).

For the second consecutive year, Virgin Australia will take to the skies with VA313 from Melbourne to Brisbane which will see more than 30 women come together including female pilots, cabin crew, ground crew, baggage handlers, air traffic controllers, and a female pushback driver and refueller, in an industry collaboration between Virgin Australia, Melbourne Airport, Brisbane Airport Corporation, and Airservices Australia.

Lawrie will operate the service almost 45 years after winning a landmark High Court discrimination case that paved the way for women to enter the profession. She will be joined by training captain, Paley Williams, who has contributed to the training of countless pilots on Boeing 737 aircraft in her 21 years with the airline.

The flight will take off from Melbourne at 8:10am and touch down in Brisbane at 9:20am local time, with members of the operating crew going on to connect with more than 50 female aviation students at an IWD networking event to share their advice on kickstarting careers in aviation.

Virgin Australia First Officer, Deborah Lawrie said she was delighted to see more women pursue careers in aviation.

“To be in the company of so many remarkable women today celebrating together is a full circle moment, and it is one I hope serves as inspiration for people from all walks of life to pursue the many diverse and rewarding careers aviation can offer,” she said.

Virgin Australia Chief Executive Officer, Jayne Hrdlicka said the day was an opportunity to reflect on the progress that had been made and look towards the future.

“It was less than 45 years ago that we had no female pilots flying commercial jets in Australia, so to see this come to life with wonderful female role models at every touchpoint makes me tremendously proud of the achievements of women in aviation and how far we have come,” Hrdlicka said.

“Today is about inspiring the next generation of women and showcasing the diverse jobs aviation can offer so that we can continue to push for progress in our sector and drive greater gender equality, which is really at the heart of International Women’s Day.

Qantas and Jetstar

Qantas and Jetstar team operating IWD all-female flights. (Supplied)

Qantas and Jetstar are marking International Women’s Day 2024 (Friday 8 March) by planning, dispatching and operating three domestic flights with all-female teams.

From the pilots, cabin crew, engineers and airport ground team, to the dispatch coordinator, duty and load controller in the Qantas and Jetstar operations centres, the flights will be run entirely by women.

“I’m really proud to be operating this flight on International Women’s Day to represent some of the amazing women who work in Australian aviation,” Qantas Captain, Camille Macpherson, said.

“Aviation offers incredible opportunities for women, whether it’s in the cabin, the hangar, or the flight deck.

It’s my great hope that young girls will see us walking through an airport terminal or onboard an aircraft and consider a career in aviation.”

Jetstar First Officer Sophie Connolly said, “I absolutely think that more girls and women should consider becoming a pilot, it has given me the opportunity to travel and meet amazing people.

“If piloting an aircraft isn’t for you, then aviation is such an enormous industry and there are places for women everywhere.”

Pay gap still an issue

The news comes less than two weeks after a  ‘Workplace Gender Equality Agency’ (WGEA) report that highlighted the state of workplace gender equality in Australia. It featured the data insights from WGEA’s annual Employer Census of private sector employers with 100 or more employees.

A media release from Qantas Group today stated that globally, 96 per cent of pilots are men and 97 per cent of engineers are men. Qantas said its pilots are 93 per cent male 96 per cent of engineers are male.

“We are working hard to address this imbalance through targets to increase female representation in these workgroups and other initiatives,” the release said.

Tony Lucas, the chief executive and aircraft caption at the Australian & International Pilots Association told the AFR that airlines need to have female pilots feature at things like airshows to inspire young girls and build a pipeline of women interested in the field.

“When you ask most people who become pilots when they wanted to become pilots, most of us wanted to from a very early age. So I think increasing the number of opportunities for young women to engage with aviation at a younger age is important,” he said.

“So this is an issue that’s not going to fix itself in two years, three years, five years, this is a decades-long initiative that the industry has to invest in.”

He said airlines needed to have female pilots prominent at airshows, for example, to inspire girls and start building a pipeline of women interested in the field.