We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lola Reid Allin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lola, appreciate you joining us today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

My hero is Beryl Markham (1902-1986) the first person, male or female, to fly east-to-west across the Atlantic, from England to North America, an adventure commemorated in her memoir, West with the Night (pub. 1942, reprinted 1986).

Though she was born in England, her parents relocated to British East Africa, now Kenya, in 1906. Soon thereafter, her mother returned to England, leaving young Beryl with her father who let her “run wild” with young Masai boys who taught her how to hunt, track, and survive in the African savanna.
Her unusual and unorthodox upbringing allowed her to develop organically, rather than being forced into the stifling roles and occupations forced upon women.

I admire her not just for the bravery required to cross the Atlantic, alone, and at night, but for her courage as the first female horse trainer and bush pilot in East Africa —and for living life on her terms, not those dictated by society.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a former Airline Transport Pilot with more than 6,000 hours of flight time, a Pilot Flight Test Examiner for Private Pilot candidates, and the first female Chief Flight Instructor at two flight schools (British Columbia & Ontario). I’m the first woman to fly the Twin Otter (DHC6/300) for a scheduled air service, commemorated on the Wall of Women in Aviation History at the Bush Plane Museum in Sault Ste Marie, Canada, and the first female/female supervisor employed by DeHavilland Flight Safety, Downsview Airport (Toronto), Ontario.

As a child, I aspired to becoming a pilot but was discouraged explicitly by friends and family, and implicitly by the social constraints and expectations for females. Nevertheless, my dream didn’t die and, eventually at age 24, I began flight lessons, the same age as Amelia Earhart when she took her first flight.

Sometime within the first few hours of flight time, I knew aviation was the career for me. I received my Private Pilot License in July 1979 and the following year, to the dismay of my relatives, abandoned my “perfectly good job” at the bank to pursue a career in commercial aviation.

To promote the role of women in aviation and to encourage other females to consider aviation careers, I’m a speaker with the Northern Lights Aero Foundation & the Education & Outreach Committee, First Canadian Ninety-Nines, International Organization of Women Pilots.
In this same vein, I wanted to “pay-it-forward,” so in 2022, I collaborated with Robin Hadfield, the International 99s President, to create the New Track Scholarship, an annual award of $1000 for female pilots.

My memoir, HIGHWAY to the SKY: An Aviator’s Journey, (Simon & Schuster September 2024) is available in print or e-book wherever books are sold. Though my memoir is a personal story which chronicles my metamorphosis from bank employee to commercial pilot, I wrote HIGHWAY to the SKY: An Aviator’s Journey to:

1. help others understand that professional success and personal happiness ARE possible if life’s roadblocks and detours are viewed as challenges and learning opportunities; and,

2. to let other women know they are not alone and the challenges they have faced —and are facing— are neither unique to them nor a direct response or result to their actions or behaviours.

One reader commented, “Lola’s exploration of social expectations, gender norms, and the pursuit of personal fulfillment resonated deeply with me, prompting reflection on my own experiences, and the importance of resilience and determination in the face of challenges.”

In addition to my aviation outreach presentations, I have created a travelogue series based on my photographs of destinations around the world. These presentations vary from safaris by jeep, camel, balloon, and foot (Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, & Botswana), to adventure treks (summiting Kilimanjaro & Djebel Toubkal; backpacking across Baffin Island; completing hte Manaslu Circuit —Manaslu is the 8th tallest mountain in the world), to historical/cultural destinations (England, Scotland, Morocco). I’m an experienced educator and passionate speaker and I tailor my presentations to the audience.

In addition, as a SCUBA Dive Master I worked professionally in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and an award-winning author and photographer whose work has appeared in many notable local, national, and international publications, including National Post, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, National Geographic, Santa Fe Centre for Photography, Verge Magazine, & Grapevine Magazine.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In my journey, I have demonstrated the capacity to withstand and recover quickly from difficulties, personal and professional.
Though women have flown as licensed pilots since 1910, only seven years after the world’s first airplane flight by the Wright Brothers, women have not been welcomed as commercial pilots and are seen as “taking jobs from men who need them.”

Though I did encounter supportive male pilot colleagues during my career, mostly I faced isolation and resistance in the form of deliberately inadequate training and constant scrutiny. While male pilots are assumed by virtue of gender to be competent, a female pilot is assumed by gender to be incompetent.

Before my first proficiency check ride on the aircraft, I overhead a conversation between several male pilot colleagues discussing the many reasons I had been hired. Not one reason related to my competency as a pilot; all reasons related to my physical appearance and what sexual act I might have performed to get hired. One of these speakers was the training captain.

When I failed my first check ride on the jet because of inadequate training from this same training captain, I was tempted to quit. My confidence was undermined, and I needed to reassure myself frequently that I was competent and that my failure was not my fault. Thankfully, an understanding supervisor fired the training captain. I received additional training from a different captain and flew with this company for several years.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have pivoted frequently, personally and professionally.
Personally:
I left my husband, a bullying alcoholic, when I realized that his threats of violence would likely escalate to actual violence. Further, I understood that these threats were his way of dealing with conflict and would be interpreted as normative by our three-year-old son. Contemplating my new life as a separated/divorced single parent was terrifying, but somehow, I knew life would be better, for myself and our son.
Professionally:
When I learned my less-than-perfect eyesight prohibited me from flying for a major air carrier, I made the decision to continue flying for a regional air carrier but acquire a university degree.
Several years later, I relocated to Mexico’s Yucatan to work professionally as a SCUBA Dive Master and to use my education by conducting a longitudinal ethnographic study in text and photos of two groups of modern Maya families, one in Chiapas and the other in southwestern Belize.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lolareidallin.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lola.reid.allin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lola.Reid.Allin.Pilot
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lola-reid-allin-77662220/?originalSubdomain=ca

Image Credits

Jeff Allin
Darcy McVeigh
Sandy Barnes