Traditionally, the aviation industry is dominated by males. However, indelible contributions from women such as E. Lillian Todd and others soon to follow made significant benefactions to the evolution of aviation. In 1906, Todd became the first woman to design and construct airplanes. Soon after, Baroness Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to fly long-distance solo, and Helen Richey was the first woman pilot for a commercial airline in the US in 1934. Unfortunately, to this day the industry is still male-dominated, but there are valiant and ambitious women determined to continue to break the glass ceiling. One such individual is Trinidadian-born Shannon Hutchinson who has combined her love of flying with her love of painting.
Hutchinson is a Boeing 737-800 pilot for Caribbean Airlines. She is a pilot with 14 years of experience and an artist with a career spanning over 20 years. She has held art exhibitions in Canada, Italy, and Trinidad & Tobago. Hutchinson says,” the first few art exhibitions I had was oriented around figure studies. The art I do now is all aviation-inspired landscape. Its art from the bird’s eye- view of the cockpit.” Her use of color in her pieces has captivated the hearts of many onlookers and we praise Hutchinson for her fusion of aviation and artistry.
Hailing from the rural country-side of Couva in Trinidad & Tobago. As a little girl, she loved to paint, using it as a hobby for her own amusement. “By the time I was 8, I was painting with oil paints. Oil paint is a difficult medium because there are a lot of solvents and it’s difficult to clean. I can’t imagine what my mother went through at that time when I got oil paint on things,” she says.
Despite her fast-growing social media following, Hutchinson is not easily persuaded by the hype. She does acknowledge that her career path as a female in aviation is not only a statistical anomaly, but also a cultural one. Many times young women in the Caribbean are dissuaded from pursuing careers in male-dominated industries because of the likelihood that they will face discrimination. Hutchinson’s rise in the industry is emblematic of the strength and defiant determination the women in our region possess.
Nothing ruffles the fragility of the male ego more than a powerful, fearless woman. We asked Hutchinson if she thinks males have been intimidated by her success in the aviation industry. “It is a boys club and I feel as though I always have to work a little bit harder to prove myself but to be honest, no! I don’t think men in the industry are intimidated by me at all, but obviously flying with a woman is just a different experience,” she says. “It’s a different atmosphere for men because the conversations might be different based on the fact that they are flying with a woman. Fortunately in our industry, we have Standard Operating Procedures and Crew Resource Management classes we have to take. This enables us to learn how to interact with each other…not to be nice but for operational safety and to connect in an interpersonal way. So operationally, it’s not different because we all know the same things therefore there is no need for anyone to be intimidated,” Hutchinson diplomatically asserted.
Shannon Hutchinson wasted no time in sharing her encouragement to other young Caribbean girls who would like to be apart of the aviation industry stating “you can do anything that you want to do but also you can do everything that you want to do. I started showcasing and selling my artwork when I was 14. In high school, I was known as an artist and everyone expected me to study art in university. I had gotten into York University and other prestigious art schools. I went to see my guidance counselor at the time to let him know that I was more interested in becoming a pilot than studying art in that phase of my life. He told me ‘Shannon, artists don’t become pilots!’ that summer, I obtained my private pilot’s license and by the end of Summer I went away to flight school in Canada instead of art school.”
Speaking from a place of compassion, Hutchinson made certain to emphasize saying, “you are going to have people tell you no! They may mean well because they want you to cultivate a more realistic view of the world but that doesn’t mean you should mold your view of the world based on the limitations of everybody else. My parents didn’t even want me to fly so if I had listened to the opinions of everyone that meant me well, I would have done nothing with my life. I can’t reiterate enough, if you want greatness, your life needs to be different in some way and I didn’t get to where I am by pleasing every social requirement of me and I’m okay with that.”
The immeasurable beauty of Shannon Hutchinson could easily mislead someone into thinking that the essence of her success was derived from ‘pretty privilege’. However, here is what she had to say about that note reflecting on social media: “the least interesting thing about me is how I look! My looks don’t fly planes nor do they conceptualize visual art pieces! I wish young women were more aware that there is more to them than their physical appearance. If Instagram was deleted tomorrow, what would you be doing? It troubles me the way young women portray themselves on Instagram sometimes because it gives them a false sense of priority. You can share your life on Instagram but remember it’s not real! “
