Well time will tell. But hey if she is good enough to qualify then I'll be happy to see her fly!
The Thunderbirds have had 2 female pilots so far, the last in 2007, so why not the Red Arrows?
Congrats to her!!
"Purely based on merit"
If they don't make the grade, they aren't considered. So nothing against the idea... Just few to date have been elegible and even fewer good enough to join.
So long as the flying is good, I don't think it really matters who is flying it. Both newbies will be good at it because of their long time with the aircraft they will be flying with the reds.