Cabin Crew interview process ended based on weight - discrimination?

[CityCommuter]

I feel sorry for a friend who has always wanted to be a flight attendant / part of cabin crew for as long as I can remember. She applied and got as far as the first interview phase having already submitted a detailed application form. The form states that 'weight must be in proportion to height'.

She believes that the interview panel judged her when she walked into the room by the way they looked at her (UK size 18, height 5'5"). Obviously weight wasn't mentioned but she didn't get approval for the next interview phase. She thinks it's discrimination on their part and that it shouldn't matter even if she was a size 24! She doesn't even look like a size 18 btw but more like a 14. I'd like to advise her to lose a few pounds but can't as she has always been very sensitive to any weight related conversation even if talking about someone else! What advise would you give her?

I call bll sht

Yes, this. Massive redundancies expected in the sector, cabin crew will be the first in line.

That might be an issue if the OP/OPs friend is in the UK, otherwise…..

Looking at the rest of the world (US, mainland Europe) you’ll that many countries have managed their aviation industry differently to how the UK has done it, and as a result we’re getting stuff like this happening.

people.com/travel/american-airlines-cancels-hundreds-flights-staffing-shortage-maintenance-issues/

As far as the UK goes at at keas5 one major airline a lot of CC went last year, there are certain advantages to running training schemes and they certainly won’t want to get caught short if there’s an upturn this autumn so I’d not be quite as sceptical about the OPs claims as some seem to be..

When I was a size 18 at 5'4 I was well into the obese category (BMI 33) so a 5'5 person must be overweight at the very least.

It doesn't really matter what the reasons are - the airline is allowed to hire based on weight.

Put this down to experience, lose weight, re-apply. Simple as that.

I know someone who is cabin crew and she said you have to be slim and light because you have to offset the passenger’s weight. If you have several obese passengers it can cause weight issues on the plane. I don’t know if that’s accurate or even scientific 😆

That has to be bollocks snotty.

There's usually at least 20 times as many passengers as crew. Even if all the crew are built like jockeys, you only need one or two heavier than average passengers to wipe out any weight saving.

Overweight is going to put her at greater risk from flying- DVT etc. Fine for occasional flights, but not sensible for regular day in day out flying.

I‘m the same height as your friend. at a suze 12, i was overweight, so a size 18 is likely to be morbidly obese. you definitely can’t squeeze past a trolley in the isle, which is necessary fir the job (at my normal size 8, i could do that - my job used to include a lot of travel).

She’s just not suited for the job, that’s not discrimination

@SnottyLottie

I know someone who is cabin crew and she said you have to be slim and light because you have to offset the passenger’s weight. If you have several obese passengers it can cause weight issues on the plane. I don’t know if that’s accurate or even scientific 😆

Nope, not accurate - Hopefully it was said as a joke..

My sister was cabin crew. The space you have to squeeze through to get to the crew beds on long haul flights is tiny. That’s just one issue of many.

Your friend clearly hasn’t done much research.

I went to a recruitment thing for Emirates once and out of maybe 200 people there, about 30 got through to the next round. They rejected people for all sorts of reasons (myself included). Too short to reach the overhead lockers, no foreign travel experience, no languages, peanut allergy, "not the right look", and in my case, probably a sense that customer service was not a strong skill set.

Weight is one thing she can control so if she wants to lose a few pounds and try again, there's nothing stopping her. If she gets knocked back again, maybe she isn't the right fit for that airline.

She's being treated less well - she's not being offered the job - because she's fat. (If we believe the post.)

With the caveat if this is true at all… ARE we treating someone less well if we deny them a job that’s dangerous to them? I saw many people mention she won’t be able to walk quickly and often and fit in narrow spaces, but to me, it’s more important that obesity is the top risk factor for flight-related deep-vein thrombosis. There are obese passengers who develop it after a single flight. And moving about doesn’t necessarily mean you will never have one, as studies have now shown that cabin crew get DVTs as well as passengers, and that’s cabin crew without any other risk factors, like obesity. Some have even had pulmonary embolisms from it.

It could even be that the airline’s insurance company won’t cover flight personnel with any reason for increased risk of DVTs (I wonder if they’d be able to hire someone with previous blood clots or a blood clotting disorder?) as insurance companies can be ruthless; that’s why they’re so damn profitable. And I don’t think telling someone they aren’t right for a job because they are at the highest risk of a possible job-related condition that could cost them their leg or their life is treating them unwell. Pretending that wasn’t the case seems like it would be almost negligent.

Size 18 at 5ft 5 is pretty large. You have to be agile and able to spend long periods on your feet. Implications for being overweight and on your feet could result in swollen ankles and DVT. At least if she really wants the job,she can lose weight. I was turned down for the police years ago for being too short. And there wasn’t a lot I could do about that.

I have every confidence that she knows that if she really wants to pursue that career then she needs to lose weight. She may be in denial but she knows.

She has clearly set out the boundary that she doesn't want to discuss weight issues with you, whether relating to her or not. My advice is to respect that boundary, just be her friend and allow her to reach her own conclusions in her own time. It may require some patience on your part but I wouldn't offer any advice nor add any fuel to the fire of this being discrimination and unfair.

Your friend is being extremely naive. Of course you need to be slim and fit to be cabin crew. You have to be able to squeeze into small spaces. A size 18 at that height is very chunky. You also need to be agile and be able to move quickly in case of emergencies. As for being a size 24 is fine, you are being ridiculous.

For anyone thinking it’s unfair and what are the chances of a emergency, I thought it was unlikely to happen until our holiday jet crash landed coming back from Spain. It was extremely frightened and traumatic. The staff had to move quickly and decisively to get us out via the emergency shoots. There’s no way you could do that if you were overweight.

If your friend wants the job, she should have already researched any physical requirements and taken the necessary action. It’s pointless bleating about it. There’s nothing discriminatory about these rules. It’s just common sense.

My advice to her would be to jump out of victim mode and get herself on a diet and down to the gym, then she hopefully will be able to fulfil her dreams. There’s only herself holding her back.

The weight / height issue I assume is down to the ability to move round the cabin easily. They’re pretty tight spaces. I also expect it’s helpful to be relatively light and have an element of physical fitness during emergency situations.

Re the wearing of heels - whenever I have flown the flight attendants have worn heels in the airport and when greeting and saying goodby to passengers, but have worn flat pumps while working during the flight. I don't recall seeing any flight attendant wearing heels during a flight.

I'm 5' 2" and a size 16 and I'm in the overweight section of the BMI.

On the on-line 'weight to height' scale pages I could get away with being 10st 3lb (which still makes me a little overweight on BMI). According to those pages someone of 5' 5" should be no more than 155lb at the top end of 'weight in proportion to height'. According to BMI the top of the healthy range for someone of your friend's height is 149.6lbs. So the weight to height charts allows her to carry an extra 5lb.

So unless she's 155lb or less (11stone 1lb) then her weight isn't in proportion which she should know as it's part of the job requirement.

Oops forgot the link to the weight to height chart www.healthyyounaturally.com/nutrition/age-height-weight-chart.htm

If it’s her dream she’d lose weight.
It was my dream to be a teacher, I worked hard and got there.
Yabu. Have you ever had your luggage weighed?
Been in a lift?
Every kilo counts.

I think it's actually fair enough to state that weight should be in proportion to height for cabin crew. If they said normal BMI they might be discriminating against people who are just over that and muscular but whose weight still appears in proportion to their height.

Basically they want people who can fit down the aisle ok, there is not an awful lot of room on aeroplanes. Probably the fairest way would be to measure everyone rather than base it on visual appearance.

My dd works for Emirates and currently lives in Dubai. Even though there are genuine reasons why the stewards needs to be slim a lot of it is down to looks and presentation.

She had to send in picture with her application then meet ups at a hotel for the first round on interviews. Out of 200 people it was whittled down to 10, out of that 10 only 4 were picked, my dd included.

When they got to Dubai, they had to undertake make up training on how their make up was expected to look, were told they were not allowed to have roots or bad nails and absolutely no visible tattoos. They were warned off eating the flight snacks and they have a yearly weigh in, if they put too much on they are put on weight management. I had a big issue with this, its misogynistic.

However she is 25, slim and is having an adventure. She was part of terrorism training which she received an award for (for being tied up)She lives rent free in an apartment with a pool paid for by Emirates, gets driven to the airports by drivers, stayed in fantastic hotels around the world, gets given pocket money when she has a lay over. Was in The Maldives for two days this week and Russia a few days before that.

She had zero experience with travel, she was P.A before.

Would I want my other DDS to do this ? No

Airlines have said that weight has to be in proportion to height for cabin crew for as long as I remember.

It's not an unreasonable stipulation for the reasons people have said.

And unlike height, weight is something you can do something about. Your friend will always be 5 foot 5, but she can reduce her weight.

A size 24 person might have an issue squeezing into the galley but not a size 18 - which is a size 14-16 in the US and also the average size for a woman in the US.

I'm smaller now but when I was a size 16-18 I was still smaller than my 6'1" and slim but fairly muscular partner everywhere but the hips - and then only by couple of inches. I could still squeeze into his jeans (I have a habit of doing that when I pull a pair out of the clean laundry basket and it's only when I realise the legs are flopping six inches below my feet that I realise they aren't mine).

Anyway, a 6 foot tall man wouldn't be turned down based on his size and a woman who wears a size 18 absolutely isn't too large to safely do this job. The only way this ISN'T weight discrimination is if the airline has a specific measurement related to the galley sizes on the smallest airplanes they fly, and that they then apply that measurement to all people who apply, whether they or male or female and whether they are a size 18 or a size 8 with massive tits or a brazilian butt lift.

A size 18 isn’t going to be able to squeeze past trollies that take up most of the aisle, nor will she be able to go down seat rows in an emergency. She’s at much higher risk for DVT at that weight and altitude - they don’t want to deal with a medical emergency on their own staff if they can foresee it!
I’m sure a little extra padding is fine, but size 18 at 5’5 is more than a little extra I’m afraid. It’s not discriminatory, it’s health and safety in that environment. Sorry.