When it comes to breaking barriers and shattering systemic male domination, women are making their mark and claiming their stake in every industry under the sun. Amelia Earhart ignited aviation goals and aspirations for young women when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 80-years later, Sizakele Petunia Mzimela made history by becoming the first Black female founder and CEO of South Africa’s newest airline, Fly Blue Crane.
Mzimela began her career in aviation with South African Airlines back in 1997 as a market analyst. Thirteen years later she was named the first female CEO of South American Airlines and reached ground breaking success throughout the duration of her years as Chief Executive Officer. With innovative thinking, and a savvy business-like mind, Mzimela’s leadership helped SAA launch direct flights to New York and Beijing, China while expanded their regional network by including eight additional routes during her first year in office.
Last September the powerful CEO and entrepreneur launched her own airline, Fly Blue Crane, at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The female owned airline currently has two 50-seat ERJ 145s which offers consistency, reliability, and low-cost domestic flights within the South African region.
“We aim to make our mark serving the increasingly commercially significant provincial and regional capitals. Our aim in the coming years is to make air travel an altogether better and more rewarding experience in Southern Africa‚” Mzimela states.
According to the airline’s details, flights go from Bloemfontein five times a day during the week‚ Kimberley, three times a day during the week, and flights to Nelspruit will leave twice, daily.
“It’s taken us a good 18 months to get to our first flight, which was on the first of September, but indeed, a lot of people just assume it happened overnight,” the CEO told CNBC Africa. “I’ve always been passionate in using the airline to open the routes and actually grow the economies of the smaller towns.”
Although Fly Blue Crane enters the aviation major league as the new planes on the block, Mzimela plans to expand destinations to Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Along with launching her new airline, the business woman is also the founder and executive chairperson of Blue Crane Aviation, which is an aviation services agency that focuses on African airlines and provides clients with airline consulting, aviation legal services, and aircraft management services.
In addition to becoming an aviation mogul, Mzimela has been appointed as the first female to join the International Air Transport Association’s board of directors since 1949. Armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and statistics from the University of Swaziland, Mzimela also serves as a board member of the South African Tourism Board, as well as the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.
HERSource acknowledges Sizakele Petunia Mzimela during Women’s History Month as the first Black woman to own an airline. As the Latin saying “Alta Alatis Patent” states, “The sky is open to those who have wings.”