Born into a working class family, Tebbit went to Edmonton County School, an academically selective state school in north London. He was then a journalist for the Financial Times before serving with the Royal Air Force. During four years of National Service he flew Meteor and Vampire jets and had to break open the cockpit canopy of a burning Mosquito aircraft to escape from it.
On leaving the RAF he joined BOAC in 1953 as a pilot, during which time he was an official in the British Air Line Pilots Association.