Japan Airlines’ first woman president was former cabin crew

Japan Airlines Co. is appointing Mitsuko Tottori, a former flight attendant and executive in charge of customer experience, as the carrier’s first female president.

Tottori, 59, will take the helm in April, as the airline deals with repercussions from the collision of its Flight 516 with a Japan Coast Guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda airport earlier this month.

All 379 people aboard JAL’s Airbus jetliner — which was landing at the airport after departing from Sapporo in northern Japan — were able to escape after hitting the smaller plane. The airline’s cabin crew were credited for saving lives, acting decisively to open emergency doors when the intercom system to communicate with the flight deck broke down. 

“I have been focusing on safe flight operations as a cabin attendant and will work to keep this in mind from now as well,” Tottori told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo. “I am proud of the crew.”

Tottori, who joined Japan Airlines in 1985, will replace Yuji Akasaka, who will become board chair after the shuffle. 

The Japanese airline said earlier it plans to book a ¥15 billion ($103 million) charge for losing the Airbus SE A350-900 jet that burst into flames following the Jan. 2 mishap, adding that the loss will be covered by insurance. 

Japan Airlines will have to buy a new aircraft after its jet was lost in the fire following the collision, Akasaka said. 

The carrier will take measures to avoid recurrence of the incident after the cause of the accident is determined in the investigation, which is ongoing, Akasaka said. He cited the fact that communication between air traffic controllers and aircraft “remains analogue,” creating risks for the industry. 

The Japan Airlines flight was landing on the same runway where the Japan Coast Guard’s De Havilland Canada Dash 8 was preparing for takeoff in order to deliver relief supplies for victims of the earthquake that hit northwestern Japan a day before.