Barbara Harmer

Who was Barbara Harmer?

Barbara Harmer was the first qualified female Concorde pilot.

Born in Loughton, Essex, the youngest of four daughters, she was raised in Bognor Regis, a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, where she attended a convent school. She left school aged 15 to pursue a career in hairdressing.

Harmer's first experience in the aviation industry was five years later when she left hairdressing to become an air traffic controller at London Gatwick Airport. When she took on the job of air traffic controller Harmer decided to study for A Levels with the intention of doing a law degree. She obtained A levels in Geography, English Law, Constitutional Law and Politics. She also began flying lessons, gained her Private Pilot Licence and became an instructor at Goodwood Flying School. Harmer studied for two years to gain a Commercial Pilot Licence, which she obtained in May 1982. She then made over 100 applications before securing a job as pilot at Genair, a small commuter airline based at Humberside Airport.

In March 1984, Harmer joined British Caledonian and flew BAC One-Elevens for three years. She then started flying the long haul McDonnell Douglas DC-10. In 1987, British Caledonian merged with British Airways, the airline operating Concorde in the UK. At that time, British Airways employed over 3000 pilots, but only 60 of them were women and no woman had ever piloted Concorde. Harmer was chosen to undergo the intensive six-month conversion course for Concorde in 1992.