A better tittle for the article might have read: 'Young female captain and co pilot, pilot Boeing 737', but it just doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Always good to read about though.
I've no doubt that the standards these pilots had to meet were considerable, well done to them both, there are not enough women in the flight deck and the rest of us could benefit greatly from the different perspective that they bring.
In relation to the experience debate, I was a told that I would be at my best and brightest when I first received my command five years ago. I remember thinking that although it was a big achievement to get there, surely this could not be the best that I could be as a Captain, after all I was only 36 and, God willing had a long career ahead of me. So I made sure that this was not true.
Every day I make an effort to learn something new about my craft. Whether it's reading crash comics to determine what went wrong and how I might have coped or looking up something in our procedures that I haven't seen for a while or discussing alternative courses of actions that we might take with other crew, I'm always learning. This has, so far ensured that I am a much better captain than I was five years ago and hopefully will get better yet.
I have no doubt that this Captain and her first officer will endeavour to improve themselves as they continue to gain experievnce, well done.