AERO rolls out 1st all Nigerian female flight crew (a 1st in West Africa)

AERO ROLLS OUT FISRT ALL NIGERIAN FEMALE FLIGHT CREW.... ALSO FIRST IN WEST AFRICA

Aero rolled out a first all Nigerian female flight crew in Nigeria’s aviation history. This feat is also the first in West Africa.

The feat was achieved by

Captain Bolaji Agbelusi,First Officer Yop Wash, Cabin Executive Jennifer Shodeinde and Catherine Ekanem.

Feat been awarded for "All-Female Crew Flight in Nigeria History"

From left, Director-General NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren; Cabin Crew, Catherine Ekanem, Captain Bolaji Agbelusi , First Officer Yop Wash, Cabin Executive Jennifer Uloma Shodeinde, General Manager fixed wing of Aero Contractor Nig., Roy Ilegbodu.

Aero Contactors Female Pilots at the launch of the Historic All-Female Crew Flight.

Aero Female pilots before the launch of the event

Director-General NCAA and the Nigeria Air Marshall at the launch of the Aero All-Female Crew Flight.

Other attendants at the launch of the Aero All-Female Crew Flight.

Aero Female pilots and others in attendance

Aero Female pilots with Staff of Aero contractors at the launch of the Aero All-Female Crew Flight.

Click On Scrolling Images to see more pictures

Aero has rolled out the first all Nigerian female flight crew on a flight between Lagos and Warri on Wednesday 1 st of April thereby becoming the first airline to achieve this feat in Nigeria 's aviation history. This feat is also the first in West Africa .

The feat was achieved by Captain Bolaji Agbelusi along with First Officer Yop Wash , Cabin Executives Jennifer Uloma Shodeinde and Catherine Ekanem.

Captain Abgelusi took command of the flight from Lagos, Wednesday, April 1 at 11:55 hours and returned to Lagos touching down at 14:28 hours to a grand reception attended by Director General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demureen, Director of Licensing, NCAA, Telema George, Director Airworthiness, NCAA, Engineer Dayo Ayorinde, MD of MMA2, Mr. Alex van Elk, GM Fixed Wing of Aero, Capt. Roy Ilegbodu and AVM Femi Ayeni of Air Transport Group of the Nigeria Airforce.

She joined Aero in 1998 as a second officer on the DHC-6., and currently flies Bombardier Dash 8. Her Career began with her training at Versatile Aviation Inc, Ardmore , Oklahoma , [ USA ] in 1997. On returning to Nigeria , and joining AeroContractors, she was trained on the DeHaviland Twin-Otter, prior to upgrading to the Bombardier Dash 8. On Friday the 13 th of March, she was upgraded to the position of Commander on the Dash 8. During this time she also attended the University of Lagos and holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration.

Captain Agbelusi says: “I thank God for making this day a reality, and I want to sincerely appreciate Aero for the kind support and training they have given me to achieve this feat. In our kind of environment this is certainly a difficult thing to achieve for a woman.

“This is an exciting and memorable day for me and my family - my husband and children - who also share in my joy.”

Manager Flight Operations of Aero, Capt Akinlawon George said: “This is a historic day for Aero for writing our name in gold; the first airline in West Africa to roll out an all female crew.

“Aero is proud of this achievement. As we mark the anniversary of 50 years of our operation in Nigeria , we want to reiterate our confidence in the Nigerian aviation market, and our determination to continue being the leader in the industry, and our confidence to compete with the best in the world.

“We strongly believe in training our staff, and we have invested a lot of our resources in this area. We are extremely delighted that it is now paying off.

“Aero has always had female flight crew; Captain Michelle Lawal being the first Aero female Captain in the early 1990s. In that space of time we have had 12 female pilots. Capt Agbelusi now comes in as the fifth female Nigerian Captain. Three young female pilots trained in NCAT joined us last year and we look forward to them upgrading to Captains in the near future”.

Dr. Demureen said:”This is a wonderful news for Nigeria , and we are proud of Aero. We have been advocating for this type of development and we are excited that Aero is leading the way. We want more of these for Nigeria so that our industry can develop faster.”