Matimba, Petros breaks record for becoming first all female pilots to fly a Zimbabwe Beoing 737

Two youthful Air Zimbabwean pilots - Captian Chipo Matimba and Elizabeth Simbi Petros have made history for becoming the first pilots to fly a Beoing 737 from Harare to Victoria falls in the country’s first ever all-female flight deck crew. 

They simply described the experience as “exhilarating”. The moment was simply one to savour, for history had been made.

 They first broke the glass ceiling when they became pilots in the male-dominated aviation field some years back.

This is the first time in the history of the airline and a memorable moment for the two captains . 

On her Facebook page, an excited captain Matimba said: “History has been made! First all female flight deck crew on the Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737!” 

Petros also posted on her page: “Air Zim first all-Women 737 Flight Deck crew! Flight To Vic Falls This Morning! Was a pleasure”. 

Matimba and Petros painted the sky pink especially when it comes to gender disparity in the aviation field.

In the world of commercial Airlines, piloting is one of the most skewed with 97 percent of all commercial pilots being (4000 female commercial pilots versus 130,000 male worldwide according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots). 

With only five female pilots at Air Zimbabwe, Matimba and Petros are the two Captains while three are first officers. 

Social media was also abuzz with praise and congratulatory messages for the female pilots. In four hours, Captain Matimba’s post on Facebook had been shared 385 times receiving 268 likes. 

The praise was much the same on Twitter where a tweet congratulating the two ladies received 126 retweets from Zimbabweans and other Africans in under an hour. 

The two Captains join a unique sorority of all female flight crews. 

The first all-black female flight was on February 12, 2009. 

History was made when an All-Africa American flight (ASA) crew departed Atlanta. All of the crew, from the pilot and first officer to the two flight attendants serving in the cabin all were African Americans and were all female. 

Last year Kenya Airways made history with an all-female crew on a new B787 plane. This year Russia began tests for a first all-female space crew for a potential moon mission in 2029. - LFH