The CEO of a major airline is a former flight attendant

While the trope of a lowly employee climbing through the ranks to eventually become chief executive has fueled a number of Hollywood film plots, the aviation world has been shaken by this actually taking place over in Japan.

At the start of 2024, Mitsuko Tottori was appointed as the chief executive of Japan Airlines  (JPNRF)  — the country’s flagship carrier that has a market cap over $1.24 trillion. Tottori has been in the aviation world for nearly 40 years when she first joined ranks as a flight attendant for Japan Air System in 1985. (The two airlines would later end up merging in 2002.)

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Tottori would steadily rise through the ranks to different management roles, including being made the director of cabin attendants for Japan Airlines in 2015, before being appointed CEO and becoming one of less than 1% of women who lead major companies in Japan.

‘I realize the public doesn’t necessarily see me like that’ 

As Tottori’s appointment shocked the industry by going against the list of 10 or so big male names that insiders predicted for the post, she quickly found herself in a media firestorm in which she was described as a “mutant” and an “alien molecule.”

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“I don't think of myself as the first woman or the first former flight attendant,” Tottori said in an interview with a BBC correspondent. “I want to act as an individual so I didn't expect to get this much attention. But I realise the public or our employees don't necessarily see me like that.”

Throughout her career, Tottori has seen through numerous critical incidents including a 1985 JAS crash of a flight from Tokyo to Osaka that led to 520 deaths and Japan Airlines’ 2010 bankruptcy which the airline emerged from with the help of state backers and a complete restructuring of its board.

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Tottori is also not a graduate of the prestigious Japanese university from which seven of the last 10 men who led Japan Airlines before her appointment graduated and is a general wild card in what is now presented as a story of female achievement and changing times in a country known for its conservatism.

“It is not just about the corporate leaders' mindset, but it is also important for women to have the confidence to become a manager,” Tottori said. "I hope my appointment would encourage other women to try things that they were afraid of trying before." 

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Now that she’s had a few months in the job, Tottori told local media outlets that a weakening yen and multiple inflation-related pressures will require the airline to raise their prices eventually but will work on way to encourage more Japanese people to do more traveling both internationally and domestically.

“Although the number of passengers on domestic flights is returning (to pre-pandemic levels), it is not likely to increase any further, to be honest,” Tottori told the Japan Times. “We are thinking of downsizing our fleet a bit to maintain our domestic network.”

READ FULL BBC FEATURE ON TOTTORI HERE.

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