Fired up! Interview with record breaking hot air balloon pilot Allie Dunnington
There have been many pivotal moments in Allie Dunnington’s aviation career including flying over the mountains of Myanmar and breaking the world-record for flying a balloon in the most countries (106 countries to date).
There was also a moment a few months after becoming a hot air balloon pilot. Allie was at Bristol Balloon Fiesta, Europe’s largest annual meeting of hot air balloons attracting over 130 balloons from across the globe.
Allie explains: “I stood in the briefing tent, I looked around and I thought, where are all the girls here?”
“There were maybe four other female pilots registered to fly at that fiesta and the rest were guys. So that got me thinking, why is that?”
Allie Dunnington is only one of a handful of women in the UK to hold a commercial hot air balloon licence. She’s also a UK Private Pilot Licence examiner, making her the first ever female examiner in 50 years of British ballooning history.
“Only 5.8% of the world’s airline pilots are women.”
She continued: “I felt quite lonely, I think there were maybe four other female pilots registered to fly at that fiesta and the rest were guys. So that got me thinking, why is that? I thought something needs to be done and why don’t we have a balloon event where the women have to fly?”
The number of female hot air balloon pilot licence holders in the UK is shockingly low. The most recent statistics show that there are 53 women and 326 men with hot air balloon licences in the UK. It’s a worse picture for airline pilots; only 5.8% of the world’s airline pilots are women.
There are 53 women and 326 men with hot air balloon pilot licences in the UK.
Experiencing the issue first-hand, Allie set up the Women's Balloon Event which became a key event in the annual ballooning calendar in the UK. She explains: “I really wanted the girls or women to be on the burner and get their first hands on experience. I still believe until you’ve done something practical yourself and had the opportunity to go up in a balloon and maybe touch the burner, get a feel of these things, you will not really get involved.”
“I thought something needs to be done and why don’t we have a balloon event where the women have to fly?”
Allie is a member of the British Women Pilots’ Association (BWPA) and the first women’s balloon meet was a joint venture with the association. The women’s balloon meet recently celebrated over a decade of events and it’s a major step towards engaging more women in hot air ballooning.
“I really wanted the girls or women to be on the burner and get their first hands on experience.”
The women’s balloon event is a huge step forward for female hot air balloon pilots and the BWPA also puts on many other events for women in aviation.
Across the world there are also many other initiatives engaging more girls and women in aviation. The International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISA+21) seeks to increase the percentage of female airline pilots worldwide through a scholarship programme and has awarded $1.4 million in flight training scholarships to women.
“The UK Government announced the ‘Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter’ with signatories including British Airways, easyJet and TUI.”
Easyjet has partnered with Girlguiding to create the ‘Brownies Aviation Badge’ to get more girls flying. It has the potential to introduce 200,000 girls to aviation. In 2019, the UK Government also announced the ‘Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter’. Signatories include British Airways, easyJet and TUI.
These initiatives are great but there must be underlying causes that need to be addressed here too. A lack of representation in the industry is a key issue, as Allie explains: “I think a big part really is a lack of role models. If you don’t see women doing this you just think, no you can’t do it, so creating more role models as commercial pilots, as pilots or as instructors is really important.”
Allie also experienced her fair share of prejudice throughout her career. She continues: “When I had my commercial licence, I think I just didn’t get the recognition that I could fly commercially and it took me a long time to even get a job offered.”
“I have been very lucky that my husband has absolutely supported me in my career and given me sometimes that extra push to say just carry on or don’t worry about that”
Allie adds that it took a lot of determination and tenacity to continue and it was male allyship that kept her going. In particular, her husband Phil Dunnington’s support was paramount; “It took a long, long time and a lot of times, I think people would just give up as there were too many hurdles in the way and they would think what am I doing this for? But I also think I have been very, very lucky that my husband has absolutely supported me in my career and given me sometimes that extra push to say just carry on or don’t worry about that. If you don’t have that support from your partner I think you might find that it is even harder.”
Another point Allie makes, which is rarely spoken about, is how women perceive themselves: “I think in general women are much more self-critical. We think ‘oh no I’m not good enough at that’ and ‘oh no I can’t do that too well’. We have a much higher expectation of ourselves than some of the guys. I’ve seen so many guys struggling with some of these skills like navigation. They’re not better than us but the way we see ourselves is the problem and that needs to be changed.”
“I think those hurdles in the future will get less and less and I think we do see a really great increase, there are a lot of young female pilots now who are training and that’s fantastic to see.”
Allie feels that there is hope though; “I think those hurdles in the future will get less and less and I think we do see a really great increase, there are a lot of young female pilots now who are training and that’s fantastic to see. I think in 2021, during online seminars I held for trainee students, I had a nearly 50:50 share of men and women joining as trainees.”
“I think women are getting a bit more into the saddle in aviation. There has been quite a lot of support from the main aviation industry to push and facilitate sponsorship and create awareness that there is an imbalance in aviation.”
Listen to the podcast episode with Allie.
Further reading
Propelling a Gender Balanced Industry
Aviation 2050 The Future of UK aviation: A consultation