Summary
- Rippelmeyer was part of the first all-female crew of a US-scheduled commercial flight with Air Illinois in 1977.
- In a lifelong love affair with the Boeing 747, she was the first female pilot to fly the aircraft type while at Seaboard World Airlines.
- In 1984, while flying for People Express, she became the first female Bowing 747 captain on a trans-Atlantic flight.
Growing up on a farm in Illinois, Lynn Rippelmeyer would look to the skies and the airplanes flying overhead, dreaming that one day, she would soar over the endless fields surrounding her. But she was born in the 1950s when there were no female commercial airline pilots, so she opted for flight attendant training instead. By 1972, TWA hired her and got her dream posting when she began working aboard the Boring 747.
While Rippelmeyer was now soaring over those same fields of wheat, she was far more interested in the mechanics of the aircraft she flew on, especially what happened at the sharp end. So she made a leap that few females achieved at the time, embarking on a nearly 40-year career as a pilot.
During that time, she was part of the first all-female crew of a US commercial flight, went on to fly everything from Boeing 727 tri-jets to the latest Boeing 787s, and became the first female pilot to fly the Boeing 747 and the first female Boeing 747 captain on a commercial transatlantic flight.
First steps as a pilot
Rippelmeyer’s career as a pilot began humbly in the summer of 1973 when she took flying lessons in a Piper J-3 Cub. Over the next couple of years, she earned her single and multi-engine ratings, instrument rating, Certified Flight Instructor rating, and Air Transport Pilot rating. This allowed her to start flying charters and giving flight instructions in Miami while on “butterfly leaves” from TWA each winter.

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In 1975, she learned about the hiring of the first two female airline pilots in the US—Bonnie Tiburzi at American Airlines and Emily Warner at Frontier. Inspired by this, she wrote to them, and they encouraged her to pursue the same path. So, in 1976, Rippelmeyer took the Career Pilot program at Miami Dade College and obtained her first commercial license.
First all-female crew of a US commercial flight
By 1977, Rippelmeyer had landed her first job in the cockpit, being hired by Air Illinois as a first officer flying the de Haviland DHC-6 Twin Otter.
Photo: Ron Kluk | Twin Otter World
Remarkably for a small regional carrier, the airline already had a female captain, Emillie Jones, but the owner told Rippelmeyer at the outset that they wouldn’t be flying together. As Rippelmeyer explains:
“I asked why, and he said, ‘Well, we have to have a man up there in case anything goes wrong. And we also don’t want to scare our passengers, do we?’ Because he was the owner, he could make whatever rules he wanted. And at that time, there was no law or regulation against it, so we just went with it.”
But inevitably, with a small operation and a limited number of pilots, the moment came when scheduling and pilot illnesses combined, and it was only the two female pilots that were available for an imminent flight. Rippelmeyer called the owner, who was none too happy with the situation, but relented and let the flight proceed.
“He said I could take the flight, but we couldn’t make any announcements and we had to keep the cockpit door closed. Nobody was to know that there were two women up there.”
So Captain Emillie Jones and First Officer Lynn Rippelmeyer became the first all-female crew of a US scheduled commercial flight, flying from Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) to St. Louis (STL) and then on to Quincy Regional Airport (UIN), followed by the return leg.

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What Happened To US Regional Carrier Air Illinois?
Air Illinois was a regional airline serving destinations across several states until a crash led to bankruptcy.
Moving up to the Queen of the Skies
After surpassing 1000 hours in the cockpit, Rippelmeyer returned to TWA for a brief stint as a flight engineer on B727s before joining cargo carrier Seaboard World Airlines in 1980. This began her lifelong love affair with the Boeing 747, as she became the first officer on Boeing 747-200Fs flying out of JFK on transatlantic routes and the first female pilot to fly the jumbo jet.
But the dream didn’t last long, as Seaboard’s merger with Flying Tiger Line resulted in her being furloughed later that year. Fortunately, the airline industry’s deregulation resulted in several new airlines entering the market. Among those was People Express Airlines, where Rippelmeyer started as a first officer on the B737 and, in less than a year, was promoted to captain—one of the first female airline captains in the world.

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What Happened To People Express Airlines?
The carrier was known for its fixed fares, friendly crew, and international service.
First female Boeing 747 captain on a transatlantic flight
But the Boeing 747 was still her first love, and when People Express began non-stop flights from Newark to Gatwick in 1983, Rippelmeyer was eager to be aboard. In 1984, she became the first female Boeing 747 captain on a transatlantic flight, which got her no shortage of attention:
“I walked through the cabin and people were congratulating me. There were all kinds of celebrations, TV, radio and photographers waiting for the arrival. Everybody was very, very gracious and wonderful about it. It was quite something.”
Photo: Lynn Rippelmeyer
This notable achievement certainly thrust Rippelmeyer into the spotlight. She soon attained all the following:
- Voted Woman of the Year in the UK for being the first female Boeing 747 captain to land there.
- Personally congratulated by Princess Anne
- Featured in a BBC special, Reaching for the Skies.
- Featured on the Working Woman TV show
- Listed in Who’s Who in American Women.
A return to the skies
People Express was ultimately acquired by Continental in 1987, and Rippelmeyer chose to take some time off. She sailed through French Polynesia, settled in California, married, and had children. Ultimately, it was only ten years later, in 1998, that she returned to Continental, basing herself in Houston and flying a schedule that worked around the needs of her young children.
“There was this one flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, that checked in at 9 am and got back at 4 pm. So I could drop the kids off at school, go to work and pick them back up. It was a difficult approach into the airport,which required extra training. The chief pilot asked me why in the world I wanted to fly into the most dangerous airport we had. I told him it matched my kids’ school schedule.”
The Toncontin International Airport at Tegucigalpa was replaced by the new Palmerola International Airport in 2021. But in its time, it was legendary for its visual-only landing onto a short runway at high altitude, surrounded by mountains and without electronic guidance. Flying there daily as a working mom speaks to Rippelmeyer’s skill as a pilot as much as her reputation as a record-breaker.
Photo: Enrique Morales
Flying off into the sunset
Rippelmeyer continued to fly for Continental for another 15 years, through its merger with United Airlines and her last flight as captain of a United B787 to London. After a full career in the air, she has committed her retirement years to work with a nonprofit she founded in Honduras and has penned two must-read memoirs: Life Takes Wings and Life Takes Flight.
Photo: Lynn Rippelmeyer
She believes that females now have every opportunity as pilots that their male counterparts have. This is certainly true, and in no small part due to the enduring achievements of pioneering female pilots like Lynn Rippelmeyer.
“Now all women who want to be airline pilots have that opportunity. Aviation schools and airlines are accepting female applicants just as willingly as males.”
What are your thoughts on Lynn Rippelmeyer’s career? Are there any other pioneering pilots that you would like to see Simple Flying cover? Share your thoughts in the comments.