Mitsuko Tottori

Mitsuko Tottori’s journey to the top of Japan Airlines’ parent company was long and unconventional. She started as a flight attendant in 1985. Over the next 40 years, she scaled the organization, becoming senior director of cabin attendants and later chief customer officer. In April, the company appointed her president and CEO, making her its first female chief: a rare feat in Japan, which ranks No. 118 on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report, behind Bahrain and Nepal. Japan Airlines is reaping the rewards of Japan’s post-COVID tourism boom. Still, as CEO, Tottori must contend with a weak yen, Boeing’s manufacturing mishaps, and the fallout from a runway collision that occurred two weeks before she was announced as chief executive.