An Interview with a 1%er. Emma Hamilton, Airline Captain.

‘Welcome aboard flight 527 to Christchurch. Please place all your bags in the overhead lockers or under the seat in front of you’.

We don’t even blink when we hear the flight attendants give their P.A. before a flight – whether male or female, though in my day, it was certainly waaaay more common to hear a women’s voice than a man’s.

However, our ears prick up when we hear a woman’s voice from the flight deck and positively gasp at the novelty if the disembodied voice declares that she is the captain. With only 1% of airline captains women, globally, she who wears four braids on her jacket sleeves and epaulettes is practically a unicorn in aviation – a mythical creature.

I wrote the above words back in October 2022. According to Google, that percentage number hasn’t changed since. In New Zealand, about 6% of pilots in any aviation field are women. In Air New Zealand, the percentage is greater, but not by much.

And like pretty much any airline in the world, those sitting in front of the kevlar flight deck door, monitoring systems, earn some of the highest incomes in any industry, whereas those behind that door, unprotected and dealing with the unpredictability of humans are paid minimum wage for their efforts. It goes without saying that more than 90% of inhabitants of the flight deck are male and more than 80% of those working as Flight Attendants, behind the door and earning minimum wage - are women.

In other industries, the gender inbalance is quite quickly reducing - think of doctors and engineers - but for some reason, the role of pilot is stubbornly still firmly in the hands of men - specifically white men only. Why?

So it is with enormous pleasure that we introduce you to a lovely lady - Captain Emma Hamilton. Her story is honest and inspirational for all the young ladies rising up behind her in the pursuit of reaching the heady heights of Airline Captain.

B787 Captain Emma Hamilton

When did you realise you wanted to be a pilot?

I knew I wanted to be a pilot roughly when I was around 8 to 10 years of age.  I was inspired and became fascinated with aircraft during those early days in the late 1970's and early 1980's when we went to pick up and drop off visiting family members, mainly my grandparents.  They did a lot of travelling backwards and forwards to Sydney from Samoa and around the world back in the Pan Am days.

Where did you train?

I trained in the countryside of NSW in Australia.  The initial part of my training was in a small country town called Deniliquin and then finished off my commercial and instrument rating in a place called Cessnock in the Hunter Valley.

What was your first airline flying job?

I completed my training in 1991 and secured my first Airline Job with Polynesian Airlines in 1993.  It didn't pay very well though so it took me a long time to pay off my loan as I had to borrow the money from the bank for my flying lessons.  The interest rate back then was an eyewatering 18.75%!

How did you build up hours after qualifying?

After I obtained my CPL, I rounded up all my old high school friends and did night scenic flights over Sydney harbour in a light twin.  We all shared the cost of the hire fee and fuel out of Bankstown Airport.  I also did parachute dropping at Camden Airport any day they needed me.  I worked as ground staff/part time flight attendant at Australian Jet Charters at Mascot in Sydney and there I met some American pilots who inspired me to try abroad so eventually I ended up in Kenai, Alaska.  There I gained some experience in a C-170 and a little bit of flying on skis in a Piper-Cub.

Winter flying on the Kenai Peninsular, Alaska (same place Melissa was stalked through the forests by a huge grizzly for 15 minutes in 2014! 😬)

Did you have any mentors?

I didn't really have any mentors at the time.  Female pilots were still pretty rare and I was a bit too shy to ask anyone to be a mentor for me.  I guess my biggest supporters and mentors were my parents.

As a woman pilot, did you have any detractors?

Yes, there were detractors throughout the 1990's and a little bit into the mid 2000's.  With Polynesian Airlines it was a fairly lonely existence as I was the only female pilot in the company until I left at the end of 1999.  Despite the chief pilot at the time giving me a go when I started on the BN-2A Islander and the DHC-6 Twin-Otter, I felt as though I was never taken seriously and sometimes seen as a novelty item.  Eventually when it was my turn to upgrade onto the B737-300 in the mid 1990's I received very little support or encouragement.  I was belittled and not treated fairly as a woman and I was made to feel like I did not belong....a little bit playing with the boys trainset...they didn't feel comfortable with me on their jet fleet there so I knew it was my cue to leave Samoa and explore options away from the Pacific and its very old fashioned traditional views of a woman’s place.

First commercial job - working for Polynesian Airlines out of Samoa.

How did you cope with the detractors?

I coped with it by absorbing my life into lots of time with my family in Samoa, hanging out with my amazing friends over there, doing lots of sports, horse riding, tropical beach get aways and doing my best to stay positive even though I had started to become a little disillusioned with aviation.  I tried many a time to go to my manager for support but he too was from an old school back ground so in the end I packed my bags and headed to greener pastures.

When and how did you get back to New Zealand to fly here?

The greener pastures had me landing in New Zealand.  In the late ‘90s, my intention was to go back to Australia and be back with my family again in Sydney but I got some news from an old ex Polynesian colleague friend who said Freedom Air were looking for pilots with their base in Hamilton.  I had just recently done a simulator with Polynesian so the timing was perfect, along with the interview and selection process I was granted a position as a FO on the B737 with them.  As it was owned by Air New Zealand we ended up getting integrated into the main Airline in the early 2000's. I was transferred into the Airbus fleet around 2004 and stayed on that fleet until 2013 where I transferred onto the B767 and then the B777.  Finally ending up in the left seat of the B787 in 2025.  That part went really well as I was supported and encouraged by so many incredible pilots amongst the ranks in Air New Zealand. Especially when I got married and became a mother.  That was a very special time in my life and my children became my central focus.  As the years have gone by unfortunately my marriage broke down which was sad but I think it is very hard in aviation, especially in an airline career to be away so much from the home and family.  It took its toll.  Those were some tough times but now the kids are older, I'm content as a solo parent so I was able to turn my direction to undertaking the next challenge which was the command upgrade onto the B787 this year.

First Officer on the B737

Looking back, would you do anything differently?

Sometimes I think I would have tried harder to try and find a job in Australia after I finished my CPL/ INST rating.  That is the only thing I might do differently looking back as I'm missing my family back home quite a bit these days. I only have 10 to 12 years possibly left in this role with Air New Zealand and my intention is to enjoy and keep on learning each and every day and then I can look forward to spending some more time with family back in Australia when I retire.  It isn't too far away and with my new life down in Wanaka where I now reside its a quick hop across the ditch from Queenstown.

Do you have any advice for young pilots soon to be or are currently in training?

Overall, I found my training to be very rewarding and I learnt so much from all my trainers and checkers.  I find in general the more time you put aside to read, ask questions and prepare, the easier the training and testing seems to be.  With lots of grit, hard work and a positive attitude I find that it puts you in good stead with the people around you and they in turn pick up on your relaxed confidence so we all end up having a lovely day at work taking what ever comes in our stride.

The view from where Emma sits now.