Send us a text

Welcome back to Stick With It.

In this episode, we are honoured to sit down with a true pioneer of Australian aviation, Captain Sharelle Quinn (RET).

Sharelle’s story is one of determination, courage, and history-making achievements. Inspired at just eight years old by a Qantas stamp design competition where the prize was a flight in a Cessna 172. Despite the challenges women faced at the time, and following Deborah Lawrie’s groundbreaking fight to open the skies to female pilots, Sharelle pursued her dream with relentless passion and resilience.

In 1984 she joined Qantas as one of the airline’s first two female pilots, a remarkable breakthrough in an industry that had only just begun to open its doors to women. By 1992, she had achieved another milestone, becoming Qantas’s and Australia’s first female captain. For much of her career she flew the legendary Boeing 747, the “Queen of the Skies,” commanding flights across the globe and earning deep respect from colleagues, passengers, and aspiring aviators alike.

Her career reached a symbolic moment in 2020 when she captained the very last Qantas 747 flight out of Australia. She recalls the mixture of pride, nostalgia and emotion as she stepped off the aircraft for the final time, knowing she had been part of both aviation history and cultural change.

In our conversation, Sharelle reflects on the early days when passengers would do a double take at the sight of a woman entering the flight deck, the way attitudes have shifted over the decades, the highs and challenges of her career.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
01:59 - Inspiration for flying 
03:30 - First steps in becoming a pilot
16:34 - Interview for Qantas
24:20 - Joining the Airline
27:00 - Career Path and Journey in Qantas
36:50 - Last Jumbo Flight 
44:40 - Life After Qantas
47:13 - Closing Remarks

Fly safe and stick with it.