Judy Cameron (Ret’d) , Air Canada First Female Pilot
Judy Cameron became the first female pilot hired by Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline, on April 10 1978 at the age of 23. She was the first woman to graduate from Selkirk College’s Aviation Technology Program in 1975.
Prior to airline flying, Judy flew smaller aircraft in Slave Lake and Edmonton, Alberta, and Inuvik, N.W.T. Throughout her flying career of 40 years and over 23,000 hours, she has flown the DC-3, Twin Otter, Hawker Siddeley 748, DC-9, Lockheed 1011, Airbus 320, Boeing 767 and 777. Her destinations have ranged from Santiago, Chile to Sydney, Australia, Shanghai, China, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Israel and many cities in Europe, including Paris, London and Rome. She has also landed at every major airport in Canada and many in the United States. Her most memorable flight was in 1997, when she was promoted to DC-9 Captain.
Judy was the first female captain of a wide-body aircraft at Air Canada in 2006 (the Boeing 767), and in 2010, became the first female Boeing 777 captain in Canada. On May 24, 2015, with much fanfare waiting, Judy make her final flight from Munich back to Toronto Pearson Airport, retiring after 37 years. She has volunteered with “Dreams Take Flight” and “Wings of Courage” and coordinated the silent auction for Canadian Women in Aviation. For inspiration, she looks to the strong role model of her single mother, who brought her up to believe she could be anything she wished to be and who always encouraged her. Judy has two grown daughters, Carolyn and Kristy that she also raised as a single mother. She lives in Oakville, Ontario with her husband, Ron, a retired Air Canada pilot. Judy is an avid skier, likes hiking, golfing, photography, and riding her red 750 Honda motorcycle.