Skies the limit for Judy Cameron, Air Canada’s first female pilot

Judy Cameron’s first taste of freedom wasn’t in the flight deck of an airplane; it was on the back of a motorcycle. 

“A guy where I worked had one, and I got to ride with him, but I didn’t want to be a passenger,” she laughed. “I wanted to ride my own.”

Whether it was fated from the start, or a sign from the universe, that streak of independence — and love for all things exhilarating — would later fuel Cameron’s journey from the road into the skies, where she would become Air Canada’s first female pilot. 

Initial take off

To this day, Cameron still recalls the plane ride that first sparked her love of flying. It was during a summer job that she was introduced to the idea of being a pilot. 

“I’d never been in a small airplane before,” she said, reflecting on that fateful ride when the pilot took her spiralling through the skies. “I hung onto the seat and I screamed the whole time, but when we landed, I really wanted to do it again.” 

And do it again she did, enrolling herself at an aviation college eight hours away from home. 

“I was the only girl in the program. I felt like a fish out of water,” she said. “It was a tough couple of years. The guys weren’t intentionally trying to be mean or ostracize me, but they tended to stick together. I definitely felt isolated.” 

Cameron credits her mother, a trailblazer in her own right, for always encouraging her to follow her dream. During World War II, her mom worked as a stenographer for the Royal Canadian Air Force and later for Trans-Canada Air Lines in the early 1950s.

“Maybe there’s a connection there,” joked Cameron. “But really, she always encouraged me; she was my biggest supporter. She truly was incredible for her time. She never once said, ‘You can’t do that.’”

Breaking ground: Challenges in a male-dominated industry

When Cameron graduated from aviation school, her academic performance placed her senior to many of her male classmates who had also been hired by Air Canada. 

“That felt good,” she admitted with a smile. But stepping into the flight deck came with its own set of challenges. The aviation industry in the 1970s and 1980s was vastly male-dominated, often making Cameron the only woman in the room.

“It just quickly became clear that I was not the norm,” she said. 

Cameron recalls walking into the lunch room with her colleagues and the entire room going silent. On another occasion, when she faced the press for the first time as a 23-year-old pilot in training, a woman reporter asked her: “How do you manage to fly despite the ravages of premenstrual tension?”

“I tried not to notice that there was all this attention on me; I would just act like one of the guys. I would put my head down and do my job to the best of my ability,” said Cameron. “But I did that knowing that in the back of my mind, if I made a mistake, it may reflect on all of womankind, not just on me personally.”

Balancing motherhood and a trailblazing career

As the first woman on the job, Cameron also faced other unique challenges like the lack of female uniforms. 

“I had to have mine individually tailored because I was the only one,” she said.

That challenge also arose when Cameron was pregnant, and there were no maternity options. 

“I had to let my tunic out and my mother-in-law helped me sew a panel into my pants,” she laughed. 

However, juggling motherhood never posed as much of a challenge as many think. 

“It seems to be one of those stumbling blocks for many women in their career, but there are absolutely ways to be a pilot and raise a family,” she said.

With so many different flight routes available, there would be times where she was flying only 13 days out of the month or would be home in the early afternoon.

Although Cameron found good work-life balance, there were other challenges she faced as a new mom.

“The most challenging part of my career was coming back to work after the birth of my first child,” she said. “Back then maternity leave wasn’t very long, so I was back in training when she was about two-and-a-half months old, which was really difficult. But luckily that’s changed.”

Inspiring the next generation

Despite any of the challenges she’s faced, Cameron’s love for flying is unwavering.

“I love takeoffs and that feeling of being pinned to your seat,” she said. “And of course, there’s nothing more satisfying than a great landing, especially if it’s under difficult conditions.” 

Throughout her 40-year career, Cameron would log over 20,000 hours of flying and climb the ranks, becoming a Captain in 1997.

She also found community with her colleagues, exploring places where they would land on layovers and witnessing more women join the team.

“The landscape changed dramatically,” she said. “By the time I made Captain, I could fly with all female pilots, and I loved it. At the same time, a lot of the guys that I worked with had been trained by female instructors, so things had really changed in the industry.”

There are also standout moments she looks back on fondly, from flying a DC-9 jet for the first time, to taxiing a Boeing 777.

“You were driving one of the biggest planes there … you just felt like you owned the place,” she said. 

Since retiring in 2015, Cameron has continued to soar as a mentor and advocate for women in aviation. Through her work with the Northern Lights Aero Foundation and the Air Canada scholarship named in her honour, she has helped dozens of young women achieve their dreams of working in the field. 

She also received the Order of Canada in 2021, recognizing her achievements as a trailblazer during her career. 

For Judy Cameron, the sky was never the limit — it was just the beginning. As she continues to inspire the next generation of women pilots, her message is clear: “It’s a fantastic career, and never let anyone dissuade you,” she said. “It’s absolutely worth it; you just have to go for it.”