Seventy years have passed since Amy Johnson perished in mysterious circumstances at the age of 37. However her impact as a pioneering aviatrix and as a role model for women everywhere remains as strong as ever.
Here are just a few examples of how Amy’s achievements and spirit are recognised today.
easyJet
The airline easyJet were determined to increase the number of female pilots and so they launched an initiative to do just that and named it in honour of Amy. In their words:
‘We launched the Amy Johnson Flying Initiative with the aim of tackling an industry-wide stereotype and doubling the number of female new entrant pilots to 12% over two years. We have seen a fantastic response to this initiative, which saw us recruit 33 female new entrant pilots and achieve the 12% target in year one. But why stop there? We have now set a more ambitious target that 20% of new entrant cadet pilots recruited by easyJet in 2020 are female.
We hope to see a whole new generation of female pilots inspired to start a career in aviation with us.’
University of Sheffield
Amy Johnson obtained a degree in economics at the University of Sheffield before she turned her attention to flying. The Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering has established the Amy Johnson Scholarships in her honour and explains:
‘These scholarships, which aim to encourage more women into a career in Engineering, are named in recognition of Amy Johnson, who began her studies at the University of Sheffield at the age of 19. Her original ambition of becoming a teacher led her to follow a degree in Economics, however a clue to the ultimate direction her career was to take is provided by her regular voluntary attendance at Engineering evening classes. She was the first woman to attend Engineering classes at Sheffield and faced strong opposition from the Engineering Professor at that time.’
‘Amy's interest in all things aeronautical led to her gaining her pilot's license in July 1929 but her first important achievement, after flying solo, was to qualify as the first British-trained woman ground engineer, the only woman in the world to do so at that time. Amy was determined to prove that women could be as competent as men in a hitherto male dominated field, and from 1935 to 1937 she was the President of the Women's Engineering Society, a professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists.’
‘We would like our female undergraduates to aspire to be like Amy: technically excellent, enterprising, and having the courage of her convictions.’
Norwegian Airlines
The airline Norwegian has a distinct livery on its aircraft that depicts iconic figures that symbolise the spirit of Norwegian through innovation, challenging the norm, and inspiring others.
It announced that pioneering pilot Amy Johnson will become its second British tail-fin hero, with the renowned pilot’s portrait set to appear on two Norwegian aircraft. This reflects Norwegian’s rapid growth in the UK, where it now flies 4.5 million UK passengers each year to 50 destinations.
Norwegian said: ‘As Norwegian continues its rapid expansion in the UK, our ‘tail fin heroes’ offer us a perfect chance to pay tribute to some of the greatest Britons of all time. Amy Johnson is a giant in the history of aviation and a truly inspirational British figure so it is a huge honour to have her adorn our aircraft and help her take to the skies once more.’
Despite her active life Amy found time to write her autobiography Sky Roads of the World and we have reproduced this as an ebook ready for you to download.
And this photograph, taken at Croydon following Amy’s return from Australia after her record-breaking flight in 1930, shows how celebrity status was already very much apparent!
Here are just a few examples of how Amy’s achievements and spirit are recognised today.
easyJet
The airline easyJet were determined to increase the number of female pilots and so they launched an initiative to do just that and named it in honour of Amy. In their words:
‘We launched the Amy Johnson Flying Initiative with the aim of tackling an industry-wide stereotype and doubling the number of female new entrant pilots to 12% over two years. We have seen a fantastic response to this initiative, which saw us recruit 33 female new entrant pilots and achieve the 12% target in year one. But why stop there? We have now set a more ambitious target that 20% of new entrant cadet pilots recruited by easyJet in 2020 are female.
We hope to see a whole new generation of female pilots inspired to start a career in aviation with us.’
University of Sheffield
Amy Johnson obtained a degree in economics at the University of Sheffield before she turned her attention to flying. The Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering has established the Amy Johnson Scholarships in her honour and explains:
‘These scholarships, which aim to encourage more women into a career in Engineering, are named in recognition of Amy Johnson, who began her studies at the University of Sheffield at the age of 19. Her original ambition of becoming a teacher led her to follow a degree in Economics, however a clue to the ultimate direction her career was to take is provided by her regular voluntary attendance at Engineering evening classes. She was the first woman to attend Engineering classes at Sheffield and faced strong opposition from the Engineering Professor at that time.’
‘Amy's interest in all things aeronautical led to her gaining her pilot's license in July 1929 but her first important achievement, after flying solo, was to qualify as the first British-trained woman ground engineer, the only woman in the world to do so at that time. Amy was determined to prove that women could be as competent as men in a hitherto male dominated field, and from 1935 to 1937 she was the President of the Women's Engineering Society, a professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists.’
‘We would like our female undergraduates to aspire to be like Amy: technically excellent, enterprising, and having the courage of her convictions.’
Norwegian Airlines
The airline Norwegian has a distinct livery on its aircraft that depicts iconic figures that symbolise the spirit of Norwegian through innovation, challenging the norm, and inspiring others.
It announced that pioneering pilot Amy Johnson will become its second British tail-fin hero, with the renowned pilot’s portrait set to appear on two Norwegian aircraft. This reflects Norwegian’s rapid growth in the UK, where it now flies 4.5 million UK passengers each year to 50 destinations.
Norwegian said: ‘As Norwegian continues its rapid expansion in the UK, our ‘tail fin heroes’ offer us a perfect chance to pay tribute to some of the greatest Britons of all time. Amy Johnson is a giant in the history of aviation and a truly inspirational British figure so it is a huge honour to have her adorn our aircraft and help her take to the skies once more.’
Despite her active life Amy found time to write her autobiography Sky Roads of the World and we have reproduced this as an ebook ready for you to download.
And this photograph, taken at Croydon following Amy’s return from Australia after her record-breaking flight in 1930, shows how celebrity status was already very much apparent!
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