Women Pilots' Proven Record

Proven over two centuries of flight, women pilots' competency is an established fact, not subject to public debate. 

Women pilots have been flying…

…balloons since 1805 (Sophie Blanchard)

…motorized aircraft since 1903 (Aida de Acosta)

…airplanes since 1909 (Raymonde de Laroche)

…airplanes of their own design since 1910 (Lillian Bland)

...in North America since 1910 (Blanche Stuart Scott, Bessie Raiche)

…in Eastern Europe/Northern Asia since 1911 (Lydia Zvereva)

…seaplanes since 1912 (Hélène Dutrieu)

…in Africa since 1913 (Angelina Maria Bocciarelli)

…in South America since 1914 (Amalia Figueredo de Pietra)

…despite racial prejudice since 1921 (Bessie Coleman)

…in Central America since 1921 (María Violeta Guirola de Ávila)

…in East Asia since 1922 (Tadashi Hyōdō)

…in the South Pacific since 1925 (Gladys Coates Sandford) 

…as licensed commercial pilots since 1926 (Sophie Pierce-Evans)

…as licensed transport pilots since 1927 (Phoebe Omlie, Ruth Nichols, Laura Ingalls)

…in South Asia since 1930 (Urmila Parekh)

…in Western Asia since 1931 (Leyla Mammədbəyova)

…in the Middle East since 1933 (Lotfia Elnadi)

…for government aviation agencies in the U.S. since 1933 (Phoebe Omlie)

…into the stratosphere since 1934 (Jeannette Piccard) 

…as airline pilots since 1934 (Helen Richey)

…in wartime operations since 1936 (Mari Pepa Colomer)

…helicopters since 1938 (Hannah Reitsch)

…in military/quasi-military air units since 1939 (Britain, Russia, USA)

…jet aircraft since 1944 (Hannah Reitsch)

…at supersonic speeds since 1953 (Jacqueline Cochran, Jacqueline Auriol)

…as airline captains since 1953 (Prem Mathur)

…as inspectors for the Federal Aviation Administration since 1971 (Wally Funk)

…as airline captains in the U.S. since 1976 (Emily Howell Warner)

…as pilots in the U.S. military since 1977 (multiple)

…in air combat operations in the U.S. military since 1994 (multiple)

…spacecraft since 1995 (Eileen Collins)

In addition to this historical record, more than half of the 40,000 women pilots in the United States today hold advanced qualifications—Airline Transport Pilot, Commercial Pilot, and Flight Instructor certificates issued by the FAA—rendering any question about women's skill and competence utterly irrelevant.

Let's call out these "debates over female pilots" for what they really are—recycled misogyny—and lay them to rest, once and for all.

© 2026 Jenny Beatty. All Rights Reserved.