The answer depends on what you mean by “first.” The history is more layered than a single name, and every layer is worth knowing.
Women have been flying since the earliest days of aviation. Their stories were often overlooked. This page puts them back where they belong.
The Women Who Earned the Title First
Raymonde de Laroche
Raymonde de Laroche became the world’s first licensed female pilot in 1910, earning Aero-Club de France certificate No. 36. She was a French baroness who took her first lesson on a whim and never stopped flying. She competed in air races and continued to fly until her death in a plane crash in 1919.
Harriet Quimby
Harriet Quimby became the first licensed female pilot in the United States in 1911, earning Aero Club of America license No. 37. She was a journalist and actress who taught herself to fly on Long Island. In 1912, she became the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel, piloting a monoplane from Dover to France in under an hour.
Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman was the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license anywhere in the world. Refused entry by every American flight school due to race and gender, she learned French, moved to France, and earned her international license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1921. She returned to the United States determined to open a flight school for Black pilots. She died in a plane crash in 1926 before that dream was fully realized, but her legacy shaped generations of aviators.
Ruth Law
Ruth Law was one of the most celebrated American pilots of the 1910s. In 1916, she set a nonstop cross-country distance record, flying from Chicago to New York in a single day. She lobbied to serve as a military pilot during World War I and was denied, but she flew exhibitions to raise money for the war effort regardless.
Why This History Matters for Women in Aviation Today
Knowing who came first is not just trivia. It is context.
Every woman who earns a pilot certificate today stands on ground that took immense courage to break open. The barriers these early pilots faced, legal, social, racial, financial, were real and deliberate. They flew anyway.
The industry still has gaps to close. Women represent less than 10% of commercial pilots worldwide. But that number is rising, and the pipeline is building.
What You Can Learn From Their Stories
The first female pilots shared a few traits that show up again and again.
They found a way when the official path was closed. Bessie Coleman went to France. Harriet Quimby found a Long Island instructor willing to teach her. Ruth Law flew exhibitions when the military said no.
Persistence was not optional. It was the method.
If you are starting your aviation journey now, you have advantages they never had. Scholarships, mentorship networks, flight schools actively recruiting women. Use every one of them.
