Yvonne Pope Sintes


Yvonne Pope Sintes is a retired British aviator of South African origin. She was the first female air traffic controller at Gatwick airport and later became Britain's first female commercial airline captain.

Life

Sintes was born Yvonne Elizabeth van den Hoek on 8 September 1930 in Pretoria, South Africa.
She raised sons.

Career

Sintes worked a career within aviation that spanned multiple professions: air stewardess, member of the RAF Volunteer Reserve, flight instructor, air traffic controller, and pilot.
In 1953 Sintes was licensed as a private pilot and assistant instructor rating at Denham. In 1955 she became a co-founder of the British Women Pilots’ Association
Sintes worked at Gatwick Airport from 1960 to 1964 as the first female air traffic controller.
Morton Air Services recruited Sintes as a pilot in 1965. Starting in 1972, she was Britain's first commercial airline captain, which included crew responsibility. Sintes flew as a pilot for UK-based airline Dan-Air from 1975 until her retirement in 1980.

Awards