Siza Mzimela


Sizakele Petunia Mzimela, or Siza Mzimela, is credited as the first black woman to start an airline. She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fly Blue Crane - a start-up airline which launched on 1 September 2015.
She was listed as one of Forbes magazine's most powerful women in 2011.

Career history

Mzimela joined the national airline South African Airways in January 1996 as a research analyst. She then went on to work as Head of Global Sales and Voyager Programme and Chief Executive Officer from 1 April 2010 until 8 October 2012. She has also served as the first female member of the board of governors of the International Air Transport Association, based in Miami, Florida, USA.

Fly Blue Crane

Fly Blue Crane was launched on 1 September 2015 by Mzimela and two ex-SAA colleagues, Jerome Simelane and Theunis Potgieter. One year later, it has grown to employ over 100 people. Mzimela said at the launch of Fly Blue Crane that she hopes to expand the airline to include routes to Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.