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Touching the Sky: The extraordinary story of an Australian trailblazer who became the longest flying female airline pilot in the world
Deborah Lawrie didn't just break the glass ceiling - she flew right through it.
They told her women couldn't fly commercial airliners.
They told her women weren't welcome in the cockpit.
They told her women couldn't work and have a family.
She told them she'd see them in court.
In an era when flight attendants were dismissed as 'trolley dollies' and smoking on aeroplanes was practically mandatory, Deborah Lawrie broke barriers to become Australia's first female pilot for a major commercial airline, fighting against absurd gender discrimination and prejudice to pave the way for equal opportunity in a male-dominated industry.
In this candid, cheeky, jaw-dropping memoir, she explains her journey from being a young girl in 1950s Australia who was determined to fly to taking Ansett Airlines to court in a landmark High Court battle - and winning. Now inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame, Deborah Lawrie is the world's longest flying female airline pilot. This is her true story.
They told her women couldn't fly commercial airliners.
They told her women weren't welcome in the cockpit.
They told her women couldn't work and have a family.
She told them she'd see them in court.
In an era when flight attendants were dismissed as 'trolley dollies' and smoking on aeroplanes was practically mandatory, Deborah Lawrie broke barriers to become Australia's first female pilot for a major commercial airline, fighting against absurd gender discrimination and prejudice to pave the way for equal opportunity in a male-dominated industry.
In this candid, cheeky, jaw-dropping memoir, she explains her journey from being a young girl in 1950s Australia who was determined to fly to taking Ansett Airlines to court in a landmark High Court battle - and winning. Now inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame, Deborah Lawrie is the world's longest flying female airline pilot. This is her true story.
- GenresAviation
352 pages, Paperback
Published November 3, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 15, 2026
Touching the Sky is an autobiographical account of an “Australian trailblazer who became the longest flying female airline pilot in the world”.
Deborah Lawrie’s story is remarkable and certainly needs to be told. She realised her ambition to fly commercial airliners at a time rife with sexual discrimination, in a completely male dominated industry. However, the writing was stolid and at times pedestrian. This is a true ‘David and Goliath’ tale that resonates within living memory for many Australians, especially women. The way forward for the women of today was hard fought by those like Lawrie.
I could not help feeling that this awe inspiring story would have been better handed to a biographer, say, the likes of Helen Garner, who might’ve made the story come alive, and fly.
Deborah Lawrie’s story is remarkable and certainly needs to be told. She realised her ambition to fly commercial airliners at a time rife with sexual discrimination, in a completely male dominated industry. However, the writing was stolid and at times pedestrian. This is a true ‘David and Goliath’ tale that resonates within living memory for many Australians, especially women. The way forward for the women of today was hard fought by those like Lawrie.
I could not help feeling that this awe inspiring story would have been better handed to a biographer, say, the likes of Helen Garner, who might’ve made the story come alive, and fly.
June 23, 2026
What an incredible woman and an awesome career. Loved this book.
April 23, 2026
A engaging and interesting memoir that I can highly recommend. I remember the court battle from newspapers at the time as Deborah took on Ansett for her right to fly commercial aircraft. All young women should read this and understand how hard we all fought to have equal rights and pay and why we are still fighting
Review of advance copy
Curious.... Goodreads indicates that this is a pre-publication edition (paperback) but its currently available from my local library, which is where I sourced this copy.
If you have a vague interest in aviation in Australia, you'd be familiar with the names Lores Bonney and Nancy Bird-Walton both Australian aviatrixes; who, probably along with others, were pioneers for various aspects of aviation in this country. But there was one area which women pilots had not conquered - and that was employment as pilots in what was then, our two airlines - Qantas/TAA and Ansett. Deborah learned to fly as a 16 year old. She had a knack and generally loved it. She then went on to gain the necessary endorsements that would be required if she was employed as a pilot in one of those airlines. She even got an interview with Ansett but the short story is she was knocked back - more than once. The thing is, one of the pre-employment checks included an 'aptitude test'. The results were graded - score low; forget flying as a pilot, score high/very high and you should be now waiting for the call to start basic training with the company. Debbie found out on the quiet, that she had scored very highly, but she didn't get the job.
In an amazing piece of symmetry the Equal Opportunity act has been passed in Victoria where she was based. She took her complaint to the commission, and the first part of the book covers the legal fight with Ansett to keep her off the flight deck. Ansett, lead by Reg Ansett at the time, pulled some nasty stunts in the legal process. Obviously she won, otherwise there would be no book, but she wasn't entirely in the clear. Much of the rest of the book deals with the problems of trying to work in a male dominated field and its clear that this has had an impact on her private life. If anything this book is somewhat of a feminist tome, although not excessively so. It was also interesting to read a pilot's perspective of some of the major events in recent world history - the Concord crash, 9/11, the loss then shooting down of two Malaysian planes, even changes to air safety, navigation, and the planes themselves as systems are updated.
The writing self is probably why this review won't be getting 5 stars, its a easy enough read but lacks the flair of a professionally written biography, but then this is an *auto-biography*, and I suspect most of Debbie's professional writing in the past may have just been reports. This does not take anything away from the story. This is still a worthwhile book. If I could I'd give it 4.5 stars.
If you have a vague interest in aviation in Australia, you'd be familiar with the names Lores Bonney and Nancy Bird-Walton both Australian aviatrixes; who, probably along with others, were pioneers for various aspects of aviation in this country. But there was one area which women pilots had not conquered - and that was employment as pilots in what was then, our two airlines - Qantas/TAA and Ansett. Deborah learned to fly as a 16 year old. She had a knack and generally loved it. She then went on to gain the necessary endorsements that would be required if she was employed as a pilot in one of those airlines. She even got an interview with Ansett but the short story is she was knocked back - more than once. The thing is, one of the pre-employment checks included an 'aptitude test'. The results were graded - score low; forget flying as a pilot, score high/very high and you should be now waiting for the call to start basic training with the company. Debbie found out on the quiet, that she had scored very highly, but she didn't get the job.
In an amazing piece of symmetry the Equal Opportunity act has been passed in Victoria where she was based. She took her complaint to the commission, and the first part of the book covers the legal fight with Ansett to keep her off the flight deck. Ansett, lead by Reg Ansett at the time, pulled some nasty stunts in the legal process. Obviously she won, otherwise there would be no book, but she wasn't entirely in the clear. Much of the rest of the book deals with the problems of trying to work in a male dominated field and its clear that this has had an impact on her private life. If anything this book is somewhat of a feminist tome, although not excessively so. It was also interesting to read a pilot's perspective of some of the major events in recent world history - the Concord crash, 9/11, the loss then shooting down of two Malaysian planes, even changes to air safety, navigation, and the planes themselves as systems are updated.
The writing self is probably why this review won't be getting 5 stars, its a easy enough read but lacks the flair of a professionally written biography, but then this is an *auto-biography*, and I suspect most of Debbie's professional writing in the past may have just been reports. This does not take anything away from the story. This is still a worthwhile book. If I could I'd give it 4.5 stars.
April 30, 2026
Physical book. Purchased in Australia. Engaging read, well written. Remarkable story of a courage woman breaking barriers.
June 19, 2026
Incredibly inspiring. Deb’s story is one everyone should read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews