From a flight attendant to leading the boardroom, meet Mitsuko Tottori, Japan Airlines first female CEO

Merely four months after a collision of a passenger plane in Tokyo’s Haneda airport, Japan Airlines is back in news, but this time for a good and historic reason. The airline has appointed its first female president and CEO in seven decades — Mitsuko Tottori.

That’s not all though. Tottori, now aged 59, had started her career as a flight attendant in 1985 with Japan Airlines. After almost a four-decade association with Japan Airlines Limited (JAL), she is now heading it, a monumental milestone for women across the world.

Mitsuko Tottori journey onboard JAL

Tottori began her career with Japan Airlines in 1985 as a cabin crew member. 30 years later, in 2015, she was appointed as the senior director of cabin attendants and was steadily promoted up through the ranks.

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Tottori assumed the post of JAL CEO on April 1.

It is worth mentioning that it is unheard of for a former flight attendant to ascend to the top step of an airline. Also, her appointment symbolises a breakthrough in a nation where women encounter significant barriers in career advancement.

Tottori’s appointment also comes at a time when Japan has been putting in efforts to ensure men and women are represented equally in top positions in a corporate setting, thus enhancing diversity in top corporate positions.

Japan ranks poorly in several global gender parity indices, with only 12.9 per cent of senior leadership roles in corporate offices being held by women as of 2023.

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For the unversed, less than 1 per cent of Japan’s major companies are led by women.

How Mitsuko Tottori is different from her predecessors?

Japan Airlines has had 10 men so far holding the top spot, out of which seven studied from prestigious academic institutions and top universities. Tottori, meanwhile, comes from a very different background, compared to them.

She completed her graduation from a far less prestigious women-only, junior college - Kwassui Women’s Junior College in Nagasaki.

“Didn’t expect…”

In a conversation with BBC, Tottori said, “I don’t think of myself as the first woman or the first former flight attendant. I want to act as an individual so I didn’t expect to get this much attention.”

Will continue to move forward with customer-first mindset

“Since joining JAL, I have spent most of my career in the Cabin Attendant Division, the front line of safety and customer service. In addition, as the head of Customer Experience last year, I have continued to think about the value we provide to our customers. I would like to continue to move forward with a customer-first mindset,” was quoted as saying by JAL.

In an interview with CNN, Tottori expressed the need for Japan to set ambitious goals for increasing the number of female managers. She remarked, “Japan is still in a place of establishing the initial goal to increase (the number of) female managers. I hope that Japan will soon become a place where people are not surprised when a woman becomes a president.”

As per reports, JAL cited Tottori’s extensive experience in safe flight operations and her contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for her promotion. She officially assumed her role on April 1 amidst challenges such as the aftermath of a flight collision and ongoing safety concerns related to Boeing aircrafts.