Alja Berčič Ivanuš has become the first female airline captain to complete her training in Slovenia. She began her career in the army, becoming the country’s first ever female air force pilot.
After almost seven years with the army, Berčič Ivanuš joined the Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways in September 2005 to become the airline’s first female copilot on the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 jet.
She was promoted to captain in June to fly the CRJ200 and the 86-seat CRJ900. She has told Adria’s In-Flight Magazine in an interview that the path to the title was not hard but it was long.
Before joining the airline, she flew choppers in the Slovenian Armed Forces, which she says gave her a broadness in the sense of flying.
Berčič Ivanuš is not the first Slovenian female airline captain, but she is the first one to be trained in the country. Her predecessor Marjana Dežnak, who is now retired, was trained to be a captain abroad.
