BA’s first female pilot flies into T5 today
Lynn Barton became BA’s first woman pilot back in 1987, having been sponsored by the airline eight years earlier for the requisite training at Hamble, Hampshire.Now, she she’s making a second appearance in the history books as the first pilot to fly into Heathrow’s £4.3bn Terminal 5 when it opens for business today. Barton, now 51, will be at the controls of flight BA026 from Hong Kong.One of the crew in the BA press office assures that male pilots were also allowed to apply: “It was open to all captains who fly 747s, though it’s also done on seniority,” says a spokesman. “I imagine there are some other captains who are cross they didn’t get the flight.” Some 175 of BA’s 3,200 pilots are female.
