The Catholic Weekly 19 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 5 19, April, 2020 catholicsuper.com.au We’re here to help you Deborah’s fight to fly for Ansett graced the pages of newspapers around the country. Owner Reg Ansett denied the allegation of discrimina- tion but admitted that it was his strong personal view that women were not suited to be airline pilots. This led to public demon- stration marches in August 1979, and a successful ‘girl- cot’ where businesses were encouraged by women to transfer their travel accounts from Ansett to Qantas. In the first six months, Ansett lost more than 50 per cent of its business travel and a lot never returned. “In those days Reg Ansett himself ran the company and made all the decisions. He was very anti women and his main reason was that he con- sidered them not safe. “He thought women were prone to panicking and would run off and have millions of babies. Evenmy earrings were a problem, apparently.” The Victorian Equal Op- portunity Board ruled that Ansett’s refusal to employ her was illegal. It awarded damag- es of $14,500 and ordered An- sett to include her in its next pilot training program Ansett delayed its training intake and appealed to the Supreme Court of Victoria but the appeal was dismissed. The company appealed the Supreme Court decision to the High Court of Australia in October 1979, but employed Wardley from 5 November pending the outcome of the case. In March 1980, The High Court dismissed Ansett’s appeal, a case still used as a precedent. “I just couldn’t believe I had won and that I could stay and fly with Ansett,” she said. “I was quite nervous when I first started out but just about everybody was so supportive. “I let my flying do the talk- ing and I guess that’s how I gained their respect. “Looking back I don’t know how I did what I did, I guess when you are young you just don’t worry about it.” After taking part in the 1989 pilots’ dispute, Deborah found herself out of a job along with hundreds of other Australi- an pilots and ended up in the Netherlands flying for KLM. In 2008 she returned to Australia and joined Jetstar Airways as the Manager of Safety Investigations. In July, 2012 she joined Ti- ger Airways as a Check and Training Captain on the A320 based in Sydney before it ceased all operations due to coronavirus on 3 April. All Tigerair pilots were re- trenched and it is unknown at this time if operations will start up again. However Deborah says it will only be amatter of time be- fore she is flying high again and proudly tells stories of her son Thomas who is also a pilot, cur- rently flying in Edinburgh and carrying on the family name. “Flying has always been a part of me and my son’s life,” she said. “Looking back I guess I knewat 14when I went upwith my dad and Thomas probably feels a little similar. “If I could give my 14 year old self some advice it would be not to worry about boys, they will always be there, con- centrate and stay focused on what you want to do. “Flying was and is my pas- sion and staying focused has enabled me to do it for over 50 years. “It has been a wonderful life and despite all the ups and downs I wouldn’t change a thing.” Deborah with son Thomas who is also a pilot. NEWS