Blitz Bureau
LONDON: A former serviceman who was injured on duty and a cabin manager who began her flight career at the age of 59 are part of a historic all-black airline crew flying from Manchester and London in celebration of Black History Month.
The two flights, operated by the airline Tui, were flying from Manchester to Boa Vista in Cape Verde, and from London Gatwick to Jamaica on October 3.
Guests were welcomed by traditional steel bands as they checked in for the flights, which aim to showcase the contribution of black and mixed heritage communities in the travel industry. Tui said it hoped the initiative would highlight its Caribbean and African Network Group’s mantra: “You can’t be what you can’t see”.
Second officer Louis Farrell described his journey to becoming a pilot as unique. He joined the army at 16 and had aspirations of becoming a military pilot. But he was injured while serving in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and lost a leg. After being medically discharged, he was introduced to a military charity called Wings for Warriors, which trains injured ex-servicemen and women to become commercial pilots.
Farrell said that when his grandmother moved from Barbados to the UK, there were only a handful of roles available to black people from the Caribbean; they tended to be labouring, non-skilled jobs.
Cabin manager Sandra Russell had wanted to be a flight attendant since she was a schoolgirl, but was rejected when she applied, and interviewed for a job at another company once she had left education.
It was while she was on a Tui flight a few years ago that she told a flight attendant about her childhood dream. She was encouraged to apply, and told previous restrictions on race, age, height, weight were a thing of the past. She ended up getting the job.
