Japan Airline's service to Guam continues to be suspended...until at least January. But the carrier continues to operate here, although in a much different capacity. JAL conducts final stage pilot training at the Guam Airport, and this past week it was led by a historic figure in Japanese aviation.

Captain Ari Fuji may be relatively small in stature, but she's a giant when it comes to commercial aviation in japan. She is not only the first female commercial captain pilot for Japan Airlines, she is the first female commercial pilot ever in Japan.

She's wanted to be a pilot since she was a young girl, and would go to the airport to watch planes take off. And she says she wasn't intimidated by the male-dominated profession.

"Unfortunately in Japan, progress toward female equality has been limited, so there has been only a handful of female commercial license pilot compared to the rest of the world," she explained. "I didn't feel as a female, because I just did the training same as men so some instructor they exaggerated my mistake. That was a little bit difficulty. But not so much I didn't feel difficult."

Captain Fuji is here to oversee the final training of eight Japan Airlines pilot candidates.

Bob Navarro from JAL's Guam office explains that this week is a critical part of the bid to become pilots, telling KUAM News, "Unlike flight simulation we do the actual live aircraft landing and take off. And one of the highlight is the touch and go. the touch and go is when the aircraft aborts the landing they develop a skill for touch and go."

The Guam International Airport has been a certified station by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau since 2013. Since then, some 373 pilot interns have graduated from the training program that culminates here on Guam.