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?

Last time I was in the UK my nephew was ill and we went to the GP surgery and the nurse was so fat they were in the process of widening her doorway. She lectured my sister about nutrition as he's a little underweight for age 7, he's very fussy and was also prem with a traumatic birth. I think that it doesn't need to be discrimination, just sensible advice. Norses are role models especially when paid to lecture others, cabin crew, just good sens eion terms of being fit to work in a hazardous environment. I work offshore regularly and there's no way of I was 20 stone I would be able to do air crash in water training, when I renew my licence I am often queuing up with cabin crew for the simulation which is being strapped in to a seat on an arm and being plunged into a deep pool with a timed test to escape a d swim to the side. It's brutal and scary and a clear pass or fail.

A low weight/height ratio has been a prerequisite for cabin crew since I was a little girl in the sixties. It’s also been a requirement that crew are tall enough to reach the overhead lockers comfortably. As a dumpy shortarse I knew from about 1970 onwards it wouldn’t be a career for me.

We are all thinking size 18 is fat?

At 5.5 yep! That's fat.

If it's truly her dream, then she will do whatever it takes to succeed, which includes meeting the prerequisites for the job, ie being a fit and healthy weight.

I’m cabin crew. You have to be able to fit in a gap by the door (called the dedicated assist space) while holding onto one of the frame handles when you’re evacuating passengers in an emergency. It’s why you can’t be taller than about 6 ft either, you wouldn’t fit safely, and you might get knocked out the door

For what it’s worth, lots of people put on a lot weight in this job. It’s all the eating at 3am and the “oh well, I’m on holiday” mentality. At my airline you’re not penalised for it, but at other airlines (Middle Eastern ones especially) you’d be put on a weight loss plan or fired

@Peppallama

It's not discrimination because weight isn't a protected characteristic under the equality act.

It's called aesthetic labour, where organisations people to represent the brand. Just like hooters girls basically. It sucks that the job is seen more to be about image and lifestyle of passengers than safety but it's part of the brand and won't stop unless people stop flying with those airlines.

It's not aesthetic like Hooter's though, it's practical.

There are restrictions on size for cabin crew and actually if you read the job description they are usually quite up front about this.It is important for the job that you can move between small spaces easily.

BMI/ weight is not a protected characteristic and that is partly because some jobs do require you to be a certain size, weight or fitness level.

It’s discrimination but it’s not illegal so I doubt there’s anything she can do.

Size 18 at 5:'5 is definitely not just fat but obese.

I am size 14 and 5'5 and right at the top o the ' overweight' category .

@Cavalierqueen what jobs do you think fat people should do then?

If she always wanted to be cabin crew she would have known Air lines are quite strict on the weight of cabin crew as mentioned by others they need to quick and nimble to get through tight aisles. It isn't discrimination its common sense. Your friend may well need to lose weight to fulfil her dream

I have an acquaintance who is long haul
Cabin crew and she is at least a size 16. She did say you need a string upper body as there is tons of lifting and securing/opening the door is really hard. I recommend your friend tries to slim and build lean muscle.

Airlines also have to consider weight for another reason. Fuel economy. The heavier the crew, the more fuel the aircraft will use. On a flight-by-flight basis it wouldn't be a lot, but over someone's entire working career it would add up to a considerable additional cost.

[quote Pieceofpurplesky]@Cavalierqueen what jobs do you think fat people should do then? [/quote]
Maybe not people who lecture parents on nutrition. If you are too fat to fit in your office, you need to consider how valid the advice in obesity, diabetes etc clinics is.

BA are awesome about not discriminating on age. Crew can work into their 60s as long as they are fit. Being fit means grueling annual training.

I saw some viral videos of "secret" bunk beds where cabin crew get to sleep for a few hours on long haul flights. They were absolutely tiny compartments usually tucked around twisty flights of stairs. They feel claustrophobic for a size 8, and would possibly be a nightmare for a size 24.

She has wasted everyone's time, including her own, applying for a job she didn't meet the requirements for.

She may not like or agree with those requirements and it may not even have been her weight that was the issue but still... it's like applying for a professional job you don't have the qualification for, what did she think was going to happen? They were going to meet her and be so wowed by her awesomeness they changed their rules just to suit her?

I was thin, then I was lets be honest I was FAT, I ended up at 14.stone, I am 5' 3".

I am now due to medical reasons cancer, not gastric band etc., 8 stone 6lb

Last time I flew I nipped to the bathroom, they commenced in flight service, I appeared behind them and the lovely flight attendant said I reckon you will make it down the side.

I did. Just in time when they got to me to order a glass of champagne.

Your friend is and I say this in the nicest possible way, quite deluded.

Maybe not people who lecture parents on nutrition. If you are too fat to fit in your office, you need to consider how valid the advice in obesity, diabetes etc clinics is.
Jesus, I thought this would have been obvious! Can't believe someone snarkily asked "what should fat people do, then?" 🤦‍♀️

I don't think EasyJet has a weight restriction for cabin crew

sounds like she is morbidly obese. of course she cannot work as a flight attendant - she must have known this. If she is committed she needs to look at her diet and lifestyle. She may then get her dream job and not be at high risk of numerous health problems and early death.

On the NHS BMI calculator she is at the end of the scale for obesity with a BMI if 41.9

She may have not passed the interview for any number of issues but to call ‘discrimination’ is deluded

There are long lists of jobs she could not go for at that weight.

You can’t give advice.

I'm a big size 16.
I wouldn't apply for a job that OBVIOUSLY isn't suited to me.
They have to squeeze past trolleys, wear heels for hours etc.
It's not discrimination, it's common sense.
If it's her passion, she should try to lose weight.

Discrimination on the grounds of which protected characteristic?

Honestly. People on here calling discrimination without the foggiest idea of how the law works.

This is why TUI say you can’t be overweight if you’re cabin crew. It’s all about safety. If she wants it bad enough she’ll lose the weight

*Be of a weight in proportion to height.”
Be of a build allowing you to move freely down the centre aisle of the plane facing forwards, exit the smallest emergency exit, fit into the evacuation space at a door area and fit into a jump-seat harness without modification

There are lots of jobs where being a certain BMI would pose an issue. For cabin crew, it is not about looking a certain way, it is about being safe enough to do the job.
If your friend was told her weight was an issue for something like a receptionist, I would see her point. But cabin crew do so much more than push a trolley up and down aisles.