Bonnie Tiburzi (born August 31, 1948), is an American aviator. In 1973, at age 24, she became the first female pilot for

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

and the first female pilot for a major American commercial airline. At the same time she also became the first woman in the world to earn a Flight Engineer rating on a turbo-jet aircraft.

Early life

Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo was born Bonnie Linda Tiburzi. She was born August 31, 1948 in Connecticut. Her father was a pilot for

Scandinavian Airlines Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmar ...

SAS and later with

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

TWA. After leaving the airline industry August Robert "Gus" Tiburzi owned and operated Tiburzi Airways – a flight school and charter company in Danbury, Connecticut.

Career

Tiburzi began her aviation career flying as a flight instructor and charter pilot. In 1973, at age 24, she became the first female pilot for

and the first female pilot for a major American commercial airline. She flew as a Captain on the Boeing 727, Boeing 757 and the Boeing 767. In 1986 Tiburzi wrote her autobiography, ''Takeoff: The Story of America's First Woman Pilot for a Major Airline''. She retired from AAL in 1999 after 26 years.

Additional professional activities

Trustee for the College of Aeronautics from 1990 - 2000. Created and produced three "Women of Accomplishment" Award Luncheons for the Wings Club, Inc. in New York City from 1981 to 1983. These events honored women from various fields of endeavors - representing an array of important roles filled by women. Recipients included (among others) actress

Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in '' The Helen ...

, race car driver Janet Guthrie, TV anchorwoman

Jane Pauley Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the ag ...

, feminist and author

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, Rabbi

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, actress and spokesperson

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for pl ...

Moya Lear Moya Marie Olsen Lear (March 27, 1915 – December 5, 2001) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who was the wife of aviation pioneer Bill Lear. Early life and education Moya Marie Olsen was born in Chicago, the daughter of vaudevi ...

of Lear Aircraft Company, Television Workshop's

Faith Stewart-Gordon The Russian Tea Room is an Art Deco Russo-Continental restaurant, located at 150 West 57th Street (between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue), between Carnegie Hall Tower and Metropolitan Tower, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. ...

, opera singer

Anna Moffo Anna Moffo (June 27, 1932 – March 9, 2006) was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress. One of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a warm and radiant voice of considerable range and agili ...

and

Muriel Siebert Muriel Faye Siebert (September 12, 1928 – August 24, 2013) was an American businesswoman who was the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, and the first woman to head one of the NYSE's member firms. She joined the 1,365 ma ...

, Superintendent of Banks, New York State. Tiburzi received the "Chairman's Award for Outstanding Programming Service of the Year". Created the "Information Bank" - a networking system for the International Society Of Women Airline Pilots to help further the career of future female pilots. Guest speaker at many schools, colleges, and private clubs including the Federal Aviation Association, the Ninety Nines, the Smithsonian Air&Space Museum and the Wings Club. Trustee and Tennis Chairperson for the Millbrook Golf and Tennis Club from 1999 - 2001. Board Member of a New York Co-op Building in the 1990s

Publications

*1984 - Autobiography, "Takeoff" published by Crown Publishing Company *1984 - Researched and co-authored a magazine article with Dr. Jonathan Scher about pregnancy and flying published in ''Mothers Today Magazine.'' *Wrote the ''Pilot’s Guide to a Perfect Plane Ride'' for Woman's Day Magazine *Featured in ''Working Woman Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Reader's Digest, Gold Coast Pictorial, Good Housekeeping,'', ''Women's Wear Daily'', ''Vogue'', ''Woman's Day'' and the Smithsonian ''Air & Space'' Magazine. *Appeared in books by Henry Holden, Captain Robert Buck, John M. Capozzi, Lisa Yount and Carole S. Briggs - list incomplete. *''American Way'' Magazine 2001 and 2015

Awards and recognition

*1974 - Tiburzi received the Amita Award honoring Italian-American Women of Achievement. *1979 - Recognized as a "Super Sister" and placed on ''

Supersisters ''Supersisters'' was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The c ...

'' trading cards. These trading cards were distributed to school-age children nationwide. *1980 - Received the "

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

Award" by the Northeast Chapter of Airport Managers *1982 - Featured in the Cutty Sark Salute to "Here's to Those Who Fly in the Face of Tradition" add campaign. *1984 - Recipient of the "Women of Accomplishment Award" by the Wings Club of New York City. *1985 - Recipient of the Zonta Club of New York's "Non-Stop Achievement Award". *1987 - Selected by Woman's Day Magazine as one of "50 Women Wo Have Changed Our Lives". *1988 - Featured in Family Circle Magazine's "Women Who Make a Difference". *1998 - Recipient of the "Women Making History Award" from the

National Women's History Museum The National Women's History Museum (NWHM) is a museum and an American history organization that "researches, collects and exhibits the contributions of women to the social, cultural, economic and political life of our nation in a context of world ...

in Washington, D.C. *2014 - Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo Day In the Town of Brookhaven, New York on April 2, 2014 *2017 - Tiburzi was the Key Note Speaker at the New York Bar Associations Aviation Division in New York City. *2017 - Recipient of the "Women That Soar Award" in Dallas, Texas. *2018 - Inducted into the "Women in Aviation International Hall of Fame" in Reno, Nevada. *2018 - Appeared in American Airlines’ Celebrated Living Magazine. *2018 - Appeared in American Way magazine with Film Independence Bonnie Award winner Chloe Zhao *2019 - Tiburzi led a panel discussion at " The Wing" in New York City with film directors Debra Granik and Marielle Heller. *2020 - Appeared in American Way magazine with Film Independent Bonnie Award winner Kelly Reichardt In 2018, the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic gla ...

inaugurated the Bonnie Award, named after Tiburzi.

Chloé Zhao Chloé Zhao, born Zhao Ting (, born 31 March 1982), is a Chinese filmmaker, known primarily for her work on independent films. Zhao's debut feature film, '' Songs My Brothers Taught Me'' (2015), premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical a ...

was the first to receive this award. Tiburzi's American Airlines pilot uniform is on display at the Smithsonian's

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the N ...

in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo's Buzz
– Personal blog. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiburzi, Bonnie 1948 births Living people American autobiographers Aviators from Connecticut Women autobiographers Commercial aviators American women commercial aviators American women non-fiction writers American aviation writers American Airlines people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers Writers from Connecticut 21st-century American women