Deb and Tom Lawrie: The Pilot Who Took On Ansett, and the Son Who Followed Her Flight Path

Deb Lawrie did not set out to become a symbol. She just wanted to fly. 

By the late 1970s, Deb had the hours, the qualifications and the experience to become an airline pilot. What she did not have was the one thing Australia’s major airlines seemed to require: being a man. 

When Ansett refused to hire her, Deb took on one of the country’s most powerful companies and won. Her landmark case made her Australia’s first female commercial pilot, and helped force open a door that had been firmly shut to women. 

In this episode of The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories, Deb sits down with host Tiffany Dunk alongside her son Tom Lawrie, who would eventually follow her into aviation. 

Together, they talk about the teenage flying lessons Deb (almost) hated, the public fight that gripped Australia, the women who quietly boycotted Ansett from behind office desks, and what it was really like to raise a son while flying around the world. 

For Tom, Deb’s work was simply normal when he was a child. His mum flew planes. Sometimes he sat in the cockpit. Sometimes he was more interested in helping the flight attendants with the trolley service. It was only as he grew older, and became a pilot himself, that he began to understand what his mother had really done. 

This is a story about a mother and son, a job that became a calling, and the kind of courage that can change a family long before anyone realises it. 

Moments you’ll hear: 

❤️ Deb’s first flying lessons, and why she hated the first one 

❤️ The solo flight that made everything click 

❤️ How Deb built her hours flying opals across outback Australia 

❤️ Why Ansett tried to wait her out until she was too old to apply 

❤️ The sexist arguments used to keep women out of the cockpit 

❤️ How office secretaries helped boycott Ansett 

❤️ The day Deb won her High Court battle and passed her final flight test 

❤️ Tom’s childhood memories of having a pilot for a mum 

❤️ The moment Tom realised Deb’s job was extraordinary 

❤️ Why Tom followed his mother into aviation 

❤️ Deb’s advice for anyone who has been told no 

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au 

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Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at https://www.womensweekly.com.au/ 👈🏽 

If you loved hearing Deb and Tom’s story: 

Read Deb Lawrie’s memoir Touching the Sky 

Learn more about The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories at https://www.womensweekly.com.au/love-stories-podcast/ 

🙏 Our special thanks for making Love Stories our home: 

Vixin, real results, simple skincare that’s a little bit fancy 

Credits: 

Host Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Phoebe Zukowski-Wallace 

Production by Charlie Potter and Jessie-Lee Klass 

Our wonderful The Australian Women’s Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More The Australian Women's Weekly Website: https://www.womensweekly.com.au/ 

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