They came, they saw and they conquered!
This summer, Filipina pilots once again, establish their dominion over the skies, a territory once ruled and dominated by men.
AirAsia Philippines on Friday launched its Manila-Davao flight with an all-female crew, led by a Cebuana captain, manning its Flight Z2 611.
Meet Gisela Z. Bendong, the first woman pilot of AirAsia Philippines:
INTERVIEW FROM SUNSTAR NEWS: "I came from a family of pilots, so I grew up wanting to also fly planes since I was a child," said Bendong, a graduate of Cebu Aeronautical Technical School.
She said she's happy to have excelled in the industry once dominated by men, but added that she did not experience discrimination in her job as a pilot.
"I've been flying for years now, with flights from Cebu and Davao, pabalik-balik lang... I've been trained to command planes, and pareho lang naman ang training sa men and women pilots," she said.
She said whether male or female pilot, their first priority is to fly smooth and safe.
The Crew
The photo below shows the all-female crew of AirAsia Flight Z2 611:
Pilot: Capt. Gisela Bendong.
Co-pilot: First Officer Andrea Maria R. Halaquena.
Flight attendants: Blanche Garcia, Christine Shane Dinong, Anjeline Garchitorena, Marah Gaa, Mayumi Arima, and Jana Trajano.
More Filipina pilots
Air Asia Philippines was not the first commercial airlines to have a Filipina pilot.
In 1993, Philippine Airlines (PAL) hired Capt. Ma. Aurora "Aimee" Carandang, regarded as the first Asian female to ever flew a commercial plane.
In 1996, PAL employed another female pilot, Catherine "Brooke" Castillo. She later transferred to Cebu Pacific.
Cebu Pacific, meanwhile, has 14 women on their cockpits, and four of them are captains like Castillo and Bendong.
Women's Month
The all-female crew of AirAsia Philippines coincides with the celebration of the Women's Month. AirAsia Philippines now flies to Davao from Manila three times daily. (Originally published Manila Day & Night / Photos from Twitter)