Ryanair's first woman captain, Ms Caroline Cronin, took her first flight in command yesterday from Manchester to Dublin, arriving on schedule at 12.35 p.m.
Capt Cronin comes from a family with a flying tradition. Her father, Felim, was a captain (now retired) with Aer Lingus. Her sister, Grainne, was the first female captain appointed by Aer Lingus, and her younger sister, Maeve, has recently qualified for her private pilot's licence.
Capt Cronin is from Ennis, Co Clare, and was educated at Loreto Convent, Balbriggan. She lives in Kinsealy, Co Dublin. She worked for a while as cabin crew in Aer Lingus but wanted a career change and began training as a pilot. She joined Ryanair in April 1996.
"It is a good career, it pays well and you see a lot of the world. In fact you get a very good view of it," she said.
She has never had a "bad experience" flying. She enjoys the job and intends staying with Ryanair, "learning my trade: it is a whole new ball game being commander of an aircraft."
Ryanair said it was trying to recruit 40 crews in line with the arrival of its Boeing aircraft next year. "We are actively encouraging more women to become pilots and we have four at present coming up through the ranks."
Also yesterday, Ryanair said it had been inundated with calls for its conditional £10 return fare to 11 British destinations.
The 5,000 tickets available at that price were being sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The tickets must be booked before close of business tomorrow, with passengers travelling to the UK by August 29th and returning before September 10th.
The £10 offer, the lowest-ever from Ryanair, was made to celebrate record passenger figures of 500,000 during August. This year Ryanair will carry almost five million passengers on its 26 low-fare routes between Ireland, Britain and continental Europe.