Ethiopian Airlines plan to operate an all-female flight to Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday, December 16. It will be an interesting spectacle to see women fill every operational role on the flight – from the pilot, co-pilot and cabin crew in-flight, also on ground as flight dispatchers.
While African governments, perhaps, see flying as middle-class luxury, Ethiopian government makes no pretense about the place of aviation in the country’s economic life and has continued to consolidate on its airlines operations. The government takes aviation industry as an important national strategic asset, and hugely invests in the country’s airports and aircrafts.
Ethiopian Airlines statement in Lagos, said the flight, a Boeing 777, will have Captain Amsale Gualu as Pilot and Tigist Kibret as First Officer; with all-female crew will depart Addis Ababa, Saturday, December 16. It will have some guests on board, including Nigerian journalists.
The Airlines said Captain Amsale Gualu had operated similar flight to other regions in the past. In a country where few women dared the highly male-dominated profession of Pilot, in 2010, she became the first Ethiopian female captain that flew Ethiopian Airlines Bombardier from Addis Ababa to Gondar
November 2015, Ethiopian Airlines dispatched all-female operated flight from Bole international airport in the capital Addis Ababa to Bangkok, Thailand. Every aspect of the journey was handled by women, from the ground crew, aircraft maintenance to traffic controllers. Captain Gualu and her female co-pilot Selam Tesfaye were charged with flying the crew and passengers to Bangkok.
Ethiopian Airlines said one-third of its employees are women. They are mostly employed as cabin crews, while the technical positions are mostly male.
