Jodi Cameron still remembers the telegram that marked her first offer to fly planes for a major commercial airline. Pacific Western Airlines sent her “congratulations” and summoned her to the interview panel. “When I walked into the room, everyone was in awe,” Jodi Cameron recalls.
It turns out they wanted to hire me, but someone higher up vetoed it when he realized I was a woman.
Jodi Cameron became the first female pilot to be recruited by a major Canadian airline in 1978.
Photo: Provided by Jodi Cameron
Some 45 years later, Ms. Cameron, who was Air Canada's first female pilot, has 23,000 flight hours to her credit, a scholarship to her name and a Member of the Order of Canada.
It's a myth
Confirms Steve Randle, Air Canada captain. When asked if he knew Cameron, he replied: It's like asking a hockey player if he knows Wayne Gretzky
.
In January, nearly 8% of Air Canada's pilots were women, higher than the 4.9% average seen in the U.S. in 2022, according to a report from the Center for Aviation (CAPA).
This number is also much higher than it was a few decades ago, when cabin crew rose to stark prominence.
One day I walked into the dining room and there were 2,000 people there.
says Ms. Cameron, recalling her first month with the airline in 1978. Everyone stopped talking and stared at me.
The beginning of his career
Jodi Cameron developed a sense of adrenaline early on, so she bought a motorcycle and rode her Honda to the University of British Columbia almost every day. Even in the rain
.
After her first year studying art, in 1973, she found a summer job interviewing pilots at small airports. On the first day, someone invited him to board the plane.
He performed a lot of aerobatic maneuvers that were not supposed to be shown
Says. But after I finished screaming, I decided I really liked it.
Captain Jodi Cameron says her first job offer at an airline was rejected when decision-makers learned she was a woman.
Photo: Provided by Jodi Cameron
Then Jodi Cameron abandoned her studies inUniversity of British Columbia He enrolled in a two-year aviation program at Selkirk College.
It was difficult to follow my training and find myself in a class full of boys. I've always been a little spaced out. […] I was very isolated.
Jodi Cameron grew up in Vancouver as a single mother, and grew up in a one-room apartment. Television and cars were luxuries that the family could not afford. The best part is that my mother always encouraged me to do what I wanted. It never held me back.
When Jodi Cameron flew her first passenger, in a two-seat, single-engine Cessna 150 trainer, her mother was the one sitting next to her.
Professional pilot
After graduating, Judy Cameron found a job as a pilot in 1975 at a pulp and paper company, but the board of directors wouldn't let her fly. It then helps manage dispatch and offices, and is sometimes able to take a flight when a subsidiary operates the aircraft.
After serving as passenger service agent in airwest airline, In British Columbia – with rare stints in the cockpit – Jodi Cameron was eventually hired by a small regional service in Slave Lake, Alberta, where she flew a Douglas DC-3.
She confirms that after four months, the company went bankrupt and the managers of the tanker that took over its routes were not happy with its presence. The company assigned her to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, before she was laid off. Later, she was reassigned as a missionary and allowed to travel occasionally.
In 1978, Air Canada reviewed his application and offered him a job.
The week before I took office, the Vice President of Operations called me to tell me very seriously that if I got pregnant, I would not be allowed to fly.
she remembers. I wasn't married at the time and had no family plans.
Today, there are 410 women pilots at Air Canada, out of a total of 5,230 pilots.
Judy has always been a mentor to the Airmen
says Eileen Bradbury, who first met her at Seneca College in 1981 and traveled alongside her on an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 777.
It was nice to talk with another successful woman
said Mrs. Bradbury. You have given us hope and encouragement. She always told us to keep moving forward, that everything was within our reach if we wanted it.
Pass the torch
Since retiring in 2015, Jodi Cameron has hardly slowed down. This Oakville, Ontario resident took an aerobatic course & Rings, barrels and Cuban octaves
– In Florida.
She is actively involved in the Air Canada scholarship program that bears her name. Launched in 2019, the fund last year supported 13 young women training as pilots or aviation maintenance technicians, by granting them $5,000 each.
Obtaining all licenses in Canada today costs $100,000
Confirms Murray StromVice President of Flight Operations at Air Canada. It is generally not a profession that attracts a wide range of Canadians, and it does not represent our community
he adds. Stock exchanges aim to compensate for this imbalance.
Captain Jodi Cameron now lives in Oakville, Ontario, and continues to encourage women to enter aviation.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn
Last year, 12% of new pilot licenses issued in Canada were for women, according to a reportInternational Women in Aviation Institute.
Ms. Cameron is also a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors Northern Lights AeroWhich provides guidance services and highlights women's achievements in the field of aviation.
Until we started doing this, there was no recognition in the aviation community
“, recalls Anna Pangrazzi, who founded the organization in 2009 and runs it Apex aircraft sales At Buttonville Airport north of Toronto. Judy is something of a pioneer.
With information from The Canadian Press
“Music guru. Incurable web practitioner. Thinker. Lifelong zombie junkie. Tv buff. Typical organizer. Evil beer scholar.”
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