Spanish airline Iberia came under fire this week after reported cases of flight attendants being required to take a pregnancy test before they’re hired came to light. The practice received massive criticism in Spain, and government and union officials cried foul and declared it sexist.
The airline was eventually fined and it has since decided to overturn the rule, according to the New York Times. However, this isn’t the first time female Cabin Crew were made to do the most outrageous of things. Aesthetic labor – when employees’ appearance and feelings are turned into commodities – is rife in many airline companies worldwide.
So no, it’s not all glitz and glamour for stewardesses. Read on to find out the ridiculousness they had or have to endure.
You have to be unmarried
Jet Airways is reported to require an unmarried status as only a standard for "inexperienced" crew; people applying as "experienced" cabin crew are allowed to be married.
Qatar Airways also received backlash in 2016 for its controversial policy of terminating female cabin crew if they fell pregnant or got married within their first five years in the company. It eventually relaxed its policy after the International Labor Organization (ILO), a UN agency, condemned it.
Freshen up, but not in view of passengers
In 2011, American Airlines released its “flight attendant Image Standards,” which imposed that female cabin crew, should they have to spruce up their makeup, would have to do while not in front of the passengers.
The document also stated that attendants should maintain a “fresh appearance.”
Hawaiian Airlines also imposed strict standards when it comes to hairstyles, where unnatural or extreme colors like purple or pink are prohibited. It also listed Mohawks, cornrows, dreadlocks, and top-knots as “unacceptable hairstyles.”
Your skin should be blemish-free
Physical appearance is a major requirement in Jet Airways, as it’s a must for flight attendants to be free of pimples, scars, and skin blemishes.
Meanwhile, one of American Airlines’ requirements involve the removal of hair in nostrils and underarms, stating it should be “cut or otherwise removed.”
You can’t be overweight
The norm decades back was for flight attendants to be petite – meaning, one should be within five feet to five feet and four inches tall; and between 100 to 118 pounds.
This policy had been sacked, as the cabin crew cried discrimination.
These days, height and weight should be proportional, and to ensure this, employees must undergo a rigid Body Mass Index (BMI) examination.
The truth about female cabin crew is that, it’s far off from the TV series “Pan Am,” where every stewardess lives in “the dawn of a glamorous new era of luxury air travel.” It’s a tough job, where women are encapsulated to blatant sexism. Only time will tell if this will change.
