Tokyo, Jan 17 (IANS): Japan Airlines (JAL) on Wednesday announced its decision to promote senior executive Mitsuko Tottori to the position of president, making the first time that a woman will hold the top post in the flag carrier's history.

Tottori, 59, now representative director and senior managing executive officer, will become the first female president of the Japanese carrier as she assumes the post on April 1, reports Xinhua news agency.

Tottori, who joined the airline in 1985, will also become the first JAL president with a flight attendant background, according to the biography attached to the company's online statement.

Yuji Akasaka, the current president, will become chairman with representative authority after April 1.

In 2020, Tottori, as senior vice president for cabin attendants, facilitated the secondment of the company's cabin attendants to municipalities and other companies during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the airline industry faced difficult business conditions, Nikkei Asia reported.

Last year, the Japanese government approved a women's empowerment policy that aims to raise the ratio of female board members to more than 30 per cent by 2030 at companies listed on the top-tier Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The move came as companies in the country lag behind the US and Europe in promoting women to managerial positions.