I was the first woman to be hired as a pilot by a major US airline in 1973. When I first started, they called me 'the little girl' and a uniform for women didn't even exist.

Fri, 04/28/2023 - 06:51

Bonnie Tiburzi, the first woman to fly as a pilot for American Airlines, posing for a picture in the cockpit of a plane. — Bonnie Tiburzi was hired as a pilot by American Airlines in 1973, becoming the first woman in the US to fly as a pilot for a major commercial airline.
Courtesy of American Airlines

When American Airlines hired her in 1973, Bonnie Tiburzi was the only woman among 214 new hires.
At the time, she was 24 years old and two years younger than most of the new hires.
She says the hardest part of being the first was a fear of failing and harming female emancipation.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bonnie Tiburzi, the first woman to fly with American Airlines as a pilot in 1973. It has been edited for length and clarity.