Japan Express Crowns First Female Captain

Hello All BlkAv8tor2003 Checking In!!!

Here is a new bit of aviation history! Japan, which is very much a male dominated society has just made their first female pilot a captain of a Boeing 737 at Japan Express (JEX). This is ground breaking that she has qualified for the position and achieved the left seat. Being a pilot I know that is the dream of all aviators and to do it in their society is monumental.

They would not give her this position I think just because they didn't have one, Japan is world class when it comes to pilot training and procedures and being in a position of authority. Capt. Ari Fuji, 42, will make her first flight next week and she said she was nervous but excited and wanted to do a good job and command a safe flight. I think any pilot is a little nervous when the get the command position and that starts when you first solo an airplane or when you take a family member or friend flying once you have received your private pilots license. It never seems to go away and it happens at all experience levels.

Good luck Ari, from one pilot to another and remember to "Keep the Blue Side Up!"

BlkAv8tor2003

Remember to be Proactive and Not Reactive and enjoy your flight!!!

Below is the original story with a few pics I found and a translation in Japanese from the website and I left it intact with no editing so that it is translated correctly. I don't speak that much Japanese...lol and it's in Japanese script!!!

(Kyodo News International) -- A co-pilot of Japan Express Co. became Japan's first female airliner captain Friday after passing the government's qualification screening.
Ari Fuji, 42, is scheduled to make her maiden flight as a captain next Monday, from Osaka to Sendai, according to the airline, which is wholly owned by Japan Airlines (OOTC:JALFQ) International Co.

She was given a letter of appointment at the company's Osaka head office.
Fuji joined JAL Express in 1999 with pilot's licenses both for private and commercial aircraft and started flying as a co-pilot the following year, the company said.



She passed the screening by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry earlier the month after promotion training with a license of airline transport pilot, which she obtained in February 2008, it said.
It usually takes 10 years or so for co-pilots to be promoted to captain.

Japan has had female passenger plane pilots since around a decade ago but had no female captain so far.
According to the ministry, there were 6,137 pilots working for major domestic airlines as of January, including 289 at JAL Express. Of the total, only three were female -- Fuji and two others.

Ari Fuji, the first female flight captain in a major airline group in Japan, holds up her appointment notice, in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, on July 9, 2010. (Mainichi)

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100709p2a00m0na042000c.html

ジャルエクスプレス：国内大手初の女性機長

日本航空（ＪＡＬ）のグループ会社、ジャルエクスプレス（ＪＥＸ、東京都品川区）の藤明里（ふじあり）さん（４２）が国の機長審査に合格し、国内の大手航空会社で初めて女性機長が誕生した。
　９日に大阪府池田市の大阪本社で行われた辞令交付式で藤さんは「この道を目指してから、何万回とくじけそうなことがあったが、負けずにやっていれば実現できる。皆さんの支えをいただき、安全運航を求めていきたい」と決意表明。１２日の大阪（伊丹）発仙台行きが機長としての初フライトとなる。
　藤さんは大学卒業後、パイロットを目指して渡米。養成学校で操縦士免許を取得して帰国し、大手航空会社として初めてパイロットの公募を始めたＪＥＸに９９年に入社した。
　国内航空会社には約４０００人の機長がいるが、全員が男性。１２日は副操縦士も女性が務める予定で、藤さんは「女性が働きやすい職場になるように頑張りたい」と話した。