PH airlines take Women’s Month to the skies

FLYING HER WAY The all-female captains and cabin crew of AirAsia Philippines serviced some domestic flights especially arranged for Women’s Month. —AIRASIA PHILIPPINES

If women hold up half the sky, they masterfully navigate it, too.

Local airlines joined the celebration of Women’s Month by mounting a number of flights with all-female pilots and cabin crew.

Philippine Airlines (PAL), for example, completed nine such flights recently—and also paid recognition to its female pilots through social media posts.

“Let these women take you to greater heights,” PAL said in a statement.

In one post, PAL featured Capt. Rona Guevarra, who has been with the company for 17 years.

“My favorite thing about flying is looking at the world in a different perspective and also [the] feeling of literally soaring through the clouds,” said Guevarra, who was a member of the Philippine Air Force before joining PAL.

Now also in charge of training PAL’s next generation of pilots, she said: “As a flight instructor, I always remind my students that flying is not just takeoff and landing. It’s about passenger comfort. We need to be stable.”

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Another featured PAL pilot Capt. Yvonne Sunga started out as a flight attendant.

“I just feel happy about me flying the passengers from point A to point B to reunite with their loved ones,” Sunga said. “I feel proud. I’m an instrument for that.”

Meanwhile, AirAsia Philippines also had all-female serviced flights—for the Manila-Boracay and Manila-Palawan routes—with Capt. Jasmine Timola and First Officer Nicolette Trisha Castaneda at the controls. Both are “full-time moms” when not airborne, the company said.

‘Enclosed’ no more

For these flights, the cabin crew is composed of Mhea Salvador, Thalia Javier, Demii Marvick Fernando, and Jamessy Lee Asok.

“Gone are the days when women were enclosed in gender-biased roles. Today, you’d see them sweating but never complaining despite being exposed to harsh elements, performing their functions as flight engineers, mechanics, ramp agents, and marshallers,” AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer Ricky Isla said.

“A first-time flyer will no longer be terrified during his flight because those in command in the sky, pilots and cabin crew alike, will always reassure them that safety is paramount to us and that they can sleep soundly because we are experts who constantly train and update ourselves with the latest procedures,” Isla added in a statement on Friday.

AirAsia has also dedicated two check-in lanes for women at Terminal 2 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad