Russian airline Aeroflot has blocked “old, fat and ugly” female flight attendants from working on international routes, according to staff.
The employees claim the airline has restricted the duties of women cabin crew who are over the age of 40 or are plumper than a US dress size 14, meaning they can only work on domestic flights.
Yevgenia Magurina, who has worked for Aeroflot for 15 years, said: “They told us all that only the young and thin will fly abroad for Aeroflot.”
“We were all photographed en masse and measured – some were even weighed,” she added. “This was done under the pretext of company rebranding and ordering new uniforms for staff.”
Working on an airline’s international routes is considered far more profitable for cabin crew and comes with the added bonus of being able to enjoy layovers in exotic locations.
Aeroflot has denied the claims. A spokesman said: “These allegations are without foundation.”
But Magurina said: “They stopped putting anyone on international flights if they are older than 40 or take more than a (Russian) size 48 (size 16 in the US).”
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